Silver price surge takes the shine off Karimnagar Silver Filigree art

The 260% jump in the price of silver over the past five years has brought the Karimnagar Silver Filigree industry to its knees. “The business is down by nearly 50% and we are finding it difficult to pay artisans. Customers are shifting to bullion as an investment rather than purchasing the beautiful deer, peacocks, ships and other creations of our trade,” says Venkateswarlu Akoju, treasurer of Silver Filigree Handicrafts Society (SIFKA).

The impact is not limited to the intricate and exquisite Silver Filigree work (Tarkashi) but has also hurt the Nakkashi metalcraft makers from the same region. During his recent visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted a Nakkashi box showing a celebratory procession to the UAE Queen Mother Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi.

“This veena weighs 467 grams and now retails for ₹1,58,663 with GST. A year earlier, it would have cost ₹90,000 with GST. This surge in price has made all the buyers disappear. In the last one month, we haven’t made a single sale,” says a shop hand at the Silver Filgree Handicrafts outlet in Hyderabad. The shop also has a beautiful handwrought peacock where the light dances through the miniature jaliwork and bounces off the green feathers and the red eye. The peacock is now priced at ₹96,800. Last year, it was nearly half the price at ₹38,900 before bouncing up to ₹60,800. It is this surge of cost that is hurting the industry.

“When people gift something to someone, it should appear substantial and should also be a work of art. Now, it can be only a work of art as the cost of silver has gone up making it difficult to create bigger pieces,” says Venkateswarlu Akoju. “There is word on the street that the price of silver will go further up. That is why people are interested in buying silver in the form of coins and ingots rather than these finely crafted pieces, as cost of making is also involved. The making charges have dropped considerably from a time when it used to be on a par with the price of the metal. This has reduced our margin,” says Mr. Venkateswarlu.

The silver items are a work of art that have been passed down as heirlooms over generations ranging from KumKum Bharani (vermillon box) to box of bangles and even as fine silver jewellery. Shaped from ingots and wires, the artisans estimate the craft to be 450-years-old, linked to the rise of the Qutb Shahis and later the Asaf Jahis. Silver Filigree craft of Karimnagar was awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2007.

“During the time of Nizams, the craft took off in a big way. But after Independence, it almost died down as it was no longer patronised and became non-remunerative for the craftsmen. In 1990s there were only six families that were into the craft. Others shifted to gold work. In 1992, after finishing my Intermediate, I took it as a challenge and began work,” says Ashok Arroju, president of SIFKA, who has won numerous national and international awards for his artisanship. Now, there are 150 families involved in the craftwork, he added.

Recently when the Prime Minister visited Hyderabad, a Nandi (bull) crafted by Ashok was gifted by Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

“The price of silver has gone up and it has impacted us badly. However, we are trying to make smaller and lighter items for corporate and personal gifting and smaller items take more time. Machinery is involved only in the beginning stages. After that, it is all eye, flame, hammer and coordination,” says Ashok, who laughs at the idea of using any other metal for the craft.