Design Resource
Traditional Toys of Kondapalli
The Craft of Wooden Toys
by
J. N. Somya
Tools and Raw Materials
Wood:
Kondapalli toys are made of wood available locally called Tella Poniki (White Sander wood and botanically called Jiuotia Rotteri Fromis).
The Kondapalli craftsmen use this particular wood because this wood is soft, lightweight and can be easily carved. The wood is brought by the craftsmen from the nearby forests of Gangineni, Adlapadu, Konduru, Chevuturu and Madhavaram. Most of the time, instead of cutting down the entire tree, they just cut the branches so that the tree develops the branches again and the wood is available for more time.
Other Materials:
Several natural materials like makku (glueing paste of tamarind seed powder & saw dust), sudda (lime), temma jiguru (acacia gum) and natural dyes are used to finish the toys. Fevicol is also used nowadays instead of makku. The brushes used to colour the toys are very fine and sharp are made of goat hair.
The carving tools used are a drill, hammer, axe, bahudara (for carving), aakrai (file) and chisels for finer work.
