Our Story
"A dancer's first sound is not her voice — it is the chime at her ankle."
— Vishwanathan Sthapati, our grandfather
A workshop, not a factory.
In 1962, our grandfather opened a small workshop on a quiet lane in Swamimalai — the town in Tamil Nadu famed for its bronze-casters since the Chola dynasty. He cast bells for temples. When his daughter began to learn Bharatanatyam, he made her first ghungroo. Word travelled.
Six decades later, his grandchildren still tune every bell by ear, knot every silk cord by hand, and refuse to scale. We make perhaps 800 pairs a year. Not more.
Cast
Brass is melted at 1,100°C and poured into clay moulds shaped from beeswax — the lost-wax method, unchanged for centuries.
Tune
Each bell is struck and listened to. Those that don't sing are returned to the furnace. Only the resonant ones move on.
String
Maroon silk cord is braided. Bells are knotted on, one by one, with a knot our grandfather taught us. The pair is signed.
For the dancer, always.
Our Chilanka are worn at first arangetrams in Chennai, on stages in Trivandrum, and in quiet practice rooms from Mumbai to Manhattan. We are honoured each time.
Whether you are tying your first pair or commissioning a one-of-one heirloom, the promise is the same: a sound made by hand, struck for you alone.
Find your pair