Snippets of Information
Crafts - Kondapalli Toys
* 12 Aug 21
Photo courtesy: Lakshmi Vuppuluri
Photo courtesy: Lalitha Srinivasan
Photo courtesy: Lakshmi Vuppuluri
Photo courtesy: Lalitha Srinivasan
Kondapalli Toys (Kondapalli Bommalu) are brightly coloured
hand-carved wooden toys in bright reds, greens and yellows,
traditionally using natural powder colours. The craftsmen migrated from
Rajasthan to Kondapalli near Vijaywada around the 16th century. The
knives used as tools for carving and the colours and brushes were
originally made by the artisans themselves. They carve the toys
out of soft wood known as Tella Poniki (punki). A paste made out of
tamarind seed powder & sawdust known as makku is used to fill up
gaps and to add features to the toys.
At present, the artisans have started using commercial glue and enamel
paints in place of the resin gum and natural powder colours.
References: Toys'story by Sabita Radhakrishna, thehindu.com, 3 Sep 2015 ; wikipedia.org
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