
Rare mat made in the Ghats vies for a special tag
The Hindu
Only three tribes are skilled in making Kannadipaya, a thin and polished mat
It is a mat made of a unique variety of creeper bamboo, so smooth and polished like a mirror. And it is so thin that when rolled, it fits inside a hollow bamboo. Kannadipaya is not an easy product to make and for long, the craftsmanship was confined to three tribes in the Athirappilly-Edamalakkudy belt of the Western Ghats.
The skill was on the verge of disappearing, when a decade ago, the Idukki district panchayat launched measures to revive it. The Plaplavu Unma Scheduled Tribe Bamboo Crafts Unit is now one of the main producers of Kannadipaya. Recently, efforts were launched to fetch the product Geographical Indication (GI) tag through training programmes for the new generation of tribespeople.

Former CM B.S. Yediyurappa had challenged the first information report registered on March 14, 2024, on the alleged incident that occurred on February 2, 2024, the chargesheet filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and the February 28, 2025, order of taking cognisance of offences afresh by the trial court.