Thampan's Handicrafts
Bronze foundry · Mannar
Mannar · Kerala's bell metal town

We build from scratch, in genuine bell metal

A family foundry in Mannar casting church bells, urulis, varpu and kadai — melted, moulded, poured and finished by hand in our own yard. The family has worked bronze here since the 1860s. This foundry has run since 1978.

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A bronze church bell cast at Thampan's Handicrafts in Mannar, Kerala

മാന്നാറിലെ ഞങ്ങളുടെ ഫൗണ്ടറിയിൽ നിന്ന്

തമ്പാൻസ് ഹാൻഡിക്രാഫ്റ്റ്സ് മാന്നാറിലെ ഒരു കുടുംബ ഫൗണ്ടറിയാണ്. 1860-കൾ മുതൽ ഈ കുടുംബം വെങ്കല ഉത്പാദനജോലി ചെയ്യുന്നു; ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ ഫൗണ്ടറി 1978-ൽ മിനി ഇൻഡസ്ട്രിയൽ എസ്റ്റേറ്റിൽ ആരംഭിച്ചു. പള്ളിമണികൾ, ഉരുളി, വാർപ്പ്, കടായി, നിലവിളക്ക്, കരി ഇസ്തിരിപ്പെട്ടി — എല്ലാം ഉരുക്കി, വാർത്തെടുത്ത്, ഞങ്ങളുടെ സ്വന്തം ഫൗണ്ടറിയിൽ പരമ്പരാഗത രീതിയിൽ ഫിനിഷിംഗ് ചെയ്യുന്നു.

Bronze since
1860s
This foundry since 1978
Church bells
10–500 kg
Cast to order, name in the metal
Foundry
Mannar
Mini Industrial Estate
Supplying
9 districts
~30 retailers across Kerala

Church bells, cast for one parish

Your church's name goes into the mould before the bronze is poured, so it becomes part of the metal rather than something engraved on afterwards. Bells run from 10 to 500 kg; most parishes choose 100 to 150 kg, and four to six weeks is the making time in good weather.

Everything a committee needs to know →

A finished bronze church bell at the Mannar foundry

Also cast here

Bronze urulis in the traditional Mannar finish

Uruli

ഉരുളി · Bronze

The wide round vessel of the Kerala kitchen.

Bronze varpu from Mannar

Varpu

വാർപ്പ് · Bronze

For feast cooking and Ayurvedic preparation. Any size.

Bronze kadais from Mannar

Kadai

Bronze

Deep bronze pan that holds its heat.

Brass nila vilakku from Mannar

Nila vilakku

നിലവിളക്ക് · Brass

The standing lamp, 9 to 22 inches.

Brass charcoal iron box from Mannar

Charcoal iron

Brass

Still made the old way, and it still works.

See all products, sizes and trade supply →

Molten bronze poured by hand from mud crucibles at the Mannar foundry

Made one mould at a time

Everything is cast by lost-wax. A model is shaped in wax, packed in clay, the wax melted out, the metal poured into what it leaves behind. The mould has to be broken open to release the casting — so every mould is used once, and no two pieces come out quite the same.

Most of the metal is recycled from old vessels, bells and lamps rather than raw ore.

The family, the village, and how it's made →

Talk to the foundry

Tell us what you need and roughly what size. We'll give you a price and a date.

WhatsApp +91 93494 81021