Traditionally shaped of earthenware, these lamps are very exquisitely shaped and ornamented with representations at their edges which receive the artistic and symbolic values of this community within such an authentic backdrop of their craft and aestheticism. On ordinary occasions, earthen lamps pertain most to the religious beliefs of the Saora and their cultural existence, who predominantly hail from places in the eastern part of Indian states like orissa and parts of Andhra Pradesh.
The Saora people, with their surrounding richness of tribal culture and heritage, have almost perfected the craft of terracotta pottery. These earthen lamps offer forms of illumination for festivals, rites, and everyday activities, and these lamps take on a cultural life of their own. The figures engraved on the rim of the lamps depict gods or animals or are truly abstract. Each one has its specific and particular meaning in the belief system of the Saora tribe. These lamps are burned during the various religious ceremonies and festivals in respect of their gods. They keep the lamp lit during that time-sightening the light, purifying it, and thereby ushering the spirit of the presence of a very special kind of incandescence. The Saora confess that the light emerging from these lamps drives away evil darkness in every sense and brings blessings from above.
These lamps, shaped by hand from locally procured clay, possess a spirit-the spirit of closeness to nature and environment and spirituality. Terracotta Earthen Lamps are thus an honorable testimony to the fine craftsmanship, artistic complexities, and respect for cultural and spiritual traditions the Saora still practice.