Dindugal Lock – ” Securing the treasures of Dindugal with a timeless lock”.
Dindugal Lock
A product of indigeneous craftmanship, the Dindigul lock owes its fool-proof design and strength to the rich imaginative ingenuity of the locksmiths, which perhaps draws inspiration from the Roman lock designs or those designed by Chubbs or Bramah or even the modern Yale Lock. The locksmith’s mission has always been to think ahead of thieves. Every lock that was painstaking
handcrafted from scrap metal came with a unique mechanical code that owes its genesis to the ingenuity of its designer.
History
The first Dindigul lock is said to have been commissioned by Tipu Sultan, the 18th-century ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India, to guard a fort on the summit of a steep hill in the heart of the city. One of the earliest examples of the exemplary craftsmanship of the Dindigul lock is seen on the door of the Dindigul Malai Kottai (Hill Fort). This lock on the fort’s door is at least 400 years old if not more and was commissioned by the Madurai Nayak king Muthu Krishnappa Nayak for Rani Mangammal. The abundance of iron in this region, and complete lack of water for irrigation to pursue agriculture is one of the reasons for the flourishing lock industry in Dindigul.
The Sankaralingachari Brothers are said to have started the assembly of the Dindigul locks, as per authenticated historical records. It was the port town of Thoothukudi in southern Tamil Nadu that was famous in the State for its lockstill Sankaralinga Asari of Dindigul married the daughter of a locksmith there. He brought the art of lock-making to his drought-struck town and became so successful at popularising the craft that people were known to say at the time: Sekkukku kooda maattai kodukkalam (you can even offer your cow to work in an oil mill) aanaal Dindigul kaaranukku penn kodukka koodaathu (but do not get your daughter married to a man from Dindigul). The timeline for the legend of Sankaralinga Asari is not precisely known but locksmiths here believe that the art they practise is more than a century old.
The 150 years old of lock-production industry includes more than 3,125 assembling units situated in Kodaiparailpatti, Kamalapatti, Nagelnagar, Nallampatti, and Yagappanpatti. Verified information that a mango-sized lock, drawer lock and square lock was made by the resourceful Parattai Achari in 1930 that is in use even today!
Making
The raw materials to make these locks are iron sheets, brass sheets, key blanks, side plates and rods. The levers, guide and keys come from Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh and sheets from Tirupur and Madurai.
The method of production involves moulding, welding and assembling by hand using the knowledge that has been passed down generations. Most of the locks made are of either iron, brass or steel. The smallest lock takes about three hours to make while the largest could take weeks. Only one key was supplied with a lock. If the original was lost, the buyer had to travel all the way to Dindigul for a duplicate of it. Long time lcoksmiths of the region vouch that even now, people come to get duplicate keys for 200-year-old Dindigul locks. Speak about code authentication!!!
The general procedure for Dindigul lock making as summarised by a locksmith who has been in the industry for the last 55 years- First the outer iron casing of a lock is cut with a mold. One-millimetre holes are drilled into it with a precision gear drill. The inner mechanism—the lock’s heart and soul—is assembled by hand, a process that can take days, or even weeks. That’s because the locksmiths design each lock differently, fitting the inner metal grooves and spring pieces together, and lining them up with the keyhole.
Over a 150 types and designs of Dindigul locks have been in existence. The popular kinds of locks that are manufactured in Dindigul are,
• Mango lock
• Door Lock
• Trick Lock
• Bell Lock
• Drawer Lock
• Shutter Lock
• Partner lock
• Master lock
• Bullet lock.
The mango button lock (this opens only after you press a hidden button while turning the key), padlocks with two sets of keys (where the larger key can work only if the smaller one remains inserted in the keyhole) Then comes the Vichitra mango lock– a type of mango padlock (where one set of keys is to open, one to lock and the third set of keys to perform both functions).
Finally the bullet lock- it has nine levers that operate five cylindrical steel rods simultaneously and the rods fall into place with every turn of the key. There are special Lockmaking units in Dindigul that make locks for bank lockers. These locks can be opened only with a combination of six keys and the locker will not open if a wrong sequence of keys is used,” says a 66-year-old craftsman, who has been in the trade for the past 55 years. He adds, “We can make any lock by just looking at it.”
August of 2019 was a special moment for Dindigul locksmiths as the Dindigul locks received a GI (Geographical Indication) tag, given to unique and authentic indigenous Indian products that can be traced to a specific geographical area and are famed for their quality.
Sruggles
Each of these master craftsmen makes three to five locks a day, for which they earn about 350 rupees. Veteran locksmiths aver that it takes mathematical precision to make a proper Dindigul lock. While older locksmiths used mental calculations to drill accurate holes in the outer casing of a padlock—ascertaining the size and spacing of each hole, and how the parts of the inner mechanism should fit together—newer ones require polytechnic graduates to fill that role. Such graduates, they hope, will drive this traditional industry into the future.
Until the 1980s, maybe 1,800 locksmiths lived and worked in Dindigul. Today, just around 200 professionals realize how to make a run of the mill Dindigul entryway lock, additionally called a shot lock. This cottage industry is unfortunately dying a very slow and painful death as the machine-made locks from Aligarh that are cheaper and lighter are preferred. Dindigul locks are more expensive but are a lifetime purchase.
Pradeep of ANS Locks in Dindigul believes instead of glorifying a decline, we should focus on encouraging youngsters to show interest in learning the craft. The present locksmiths are ageing and the skill must be tapped fast and passed on to the next set of artisans to keep the art and science of Dindigul Lockmaking alive. While the various Governments are fast adopting methods to keep dying local crafts alive, we hope that the Tamil Nadu Government will take urgent steps to keep this unique lockmaking art alive.