Opportunities

Design Resource

Traditional Toys of Kondapalli

The Craft of Wooden Toys

J. N. Somya

Opportunities

Utility Items: As toys and other items of the household have disappeared from the living rooms these days, contemporary utility products can be designed especially in the area of stationery retaining the traditional look of Kondapalli toys.

Dynamic Toys: A mechanical feature can be worked out in Tella Poniki wood to make Kondapalli toys as dynamic toys where various body parts and accessories are movable and can be attached or detached.

Role-playing Games: The lost culture of imagination and mock play in children can be revived by these traditional toys. Children can be encouraged to play role-playing games with Kondapalli toys.

Story-telling: Kondapalli toys represent ritualistic and symbolic deities based on Hindu mythological characters. Folktales and mythological stories can be narrated through these toys.

Website and a Video: A website can be designed showcasing visual documentation of the toys promoting the craft and opening an avenue for artisans to reach and sell more.

Dasavatar is a medium of story-telling through mythological stories.

Kondapalli toys can be made dynamic by making working joints like other toys.

To promote and protect the traditional art form for 400years, LANCO through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme has launched an initiative called LIGHT (Lanco Institute of General Humanitarian Trust), in place since 2002. LIGHT has enabled about 140 Kondapalli artisan families to upgrade the quality of production and marketing of Kondapalli toys, thus keeping alive the age-old cottage industry. 80% of the beneficiaries are from SC/ST community.* Under the joint initiative of the Government and Lanco, a common facility centre for the artisans is being set up where all the orders for the Kondaplli toys would be processed and each craftsperson has been given a life insurance policy up to Rs 1 lakh. The craft community has been divided into 14 groups under the cluster group development programme.

NGOs have also been roped in to help. ‘Dastakar’ (Andhra Pradesh) was one of the first to encourage the artisans to work with an improved colour palette. Much later, Crafts Council (Andhra Pradesh) conducted workshops and there was a gradual return to traditional vegetable dyes. NIFT, Hyderabad introduced a product line more suited to the contemporary milieu and corporate gift items like boxes, penknives, key holders, table clocks, pins and pen holders.

LANCO - Lanco Infratech Ltd
NIFT - National Institute of Fashion Technology

A delegation from Kondapalli visited the World Telugu Conference held in Singapore in 2002 opening up new vistas for their products.

Issues like cracks appearing in the toys and termite-attack were solved with the help of professionals by LIGHT. Methods were adapted to make the wood of the Tella Poniki tree stronger by way of seasoning. Through Andhra Pradesh Forest Academy, efforts are on to increase the area under cultivation of these trees.

Through the efforts of LIGHT and CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), Kondapalli Bommalu created only in the Kondapalli district of Andhra Pradesh, are now marked with Geographical Indication (GI), a unique recognition given to products native to a specific place on earth.

A Kondapalli Toys Development Forum comprising Kondapalli Toys Artisans Mutually Aided Co-operative, Crafts Council (Andhra Pradesh), CII, Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Council, Vishwakarma Art gallery and LIGHT has been constituted to formulate strategies to promote these toys.

Now with an organized approach and support from Government and private players, artisans have been able to market their products to fetch better prices.

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Traditional Toys of Kondapalli