Hang a daily calendar on almost any shop wall in Tamil Nadu — or in many other states — and there is a good chance it was printed in Sivakasi. For a town of its size, its reach is remarkable. So how did Sivakasi become the place India turns to for calendars?
“Kutty Japan”: a town built on industry
Sivakasi is often called Kutty Japan — Little Japan — a nickname said to have been given for the hard-working, enterprising spirit of its people. The town’s industrial story is usually traced to the 1920s, when local entrepreneurs brought safety-match making to the area. Fireworks followed, and printing grew right alongside them.
From matchbox labels to calendars
Every matchbox and every box of crackers needed a colourful printed label. Printing presses sprang up to meet that demand, and with them came skilled printers, designers and plate makers. Over the decades those presses moved into bigger, more demanding work — posters, diaries, notebooks, labels and, above all, calendars.
Why Sivakasi works so well for printing
1. A complete ecosystem in one town
A calendar passes through many hands: paper and board merchants, designers, plate makers, printers, laminators, die-cutters, foil and emboss specialists, date-pad makers and packers. In Sivakasi, all of them are close by. Work moves from one stage to the next in hours, not days — which is exactly what calendar season demands.
2. Skills handed down through generations
Many families have worked in printing for two or three generations. That depth of experience shows in colour matching, registration and finishing — the details that make one calendar look sharper than another.
3. A dry climate
Sivakasi’s hot, dry weather is famously credited with helping its match and fireworks industries. Printers value it too: paper and board are easier to handle and store when the air is not heavy with moisture.
4. Built for volume
Calendars are ordered in thousands. Sivakasi’s presses are set up for exactly that kind of bulk work, with the capacity to print large sheets and large quantities in a short season. (We look at this in more detail in Big sizes, bulk volumes.)
The Tamil daily calendar — a Sivakasi tradition
The daily tear-off calendar, with its date slip, Tamil month, festivals and nalla neram, is a household institution in Tamil Nadu. Sivakasi printers know its layout by heart — from the date slips to the detailed panchangam back sheet. Read more in What’s on a Tamil daily calendar sheet?
Buying from Sivakasi today
Senthaamarai Press, maker of Lotus calendars, is part of this tradition — a daily calendar manufacturer and offset printer with a branch on Sattur Road, Sivakasi, and its head office in Rajapalayam. Its full range of boards, finished calendars, date slips and panchangam sheets is on the online price list, so presses and dealers anywhere in India can order Sivakasi calendars without making the trip.
