Kondapalli Toys - Invaluable Collectibles and Art Pieces

You might be wondering what are these Kondapalli toys and why I am giving so much importance to them. So, I must clear your doubts and prove why these toys are an invaluable asset to you.

• Kondapalli Toys are a distinctive type of wooden toy that can be identified and isolated among a large group of toys.
• They are famous for their unbreakable lightness, their beautiful artwork, the use of herbal colors, and their mythological rural life themes.
• They are the most appealing type among all vintage toys.
• They can be preserved, intact, for ages, and passed on to generations as valuable collectibles.
• One more important fact is that these kinds of rare artistic talents need to be protected by all of us by encouraging them through generous purchases to earn their living and pass on the tradition to their children with no fear of insecurity.

Kondapalli is a small town/village near Vijayawada City of Andhra Pradesh in South India. It is 16 km away from Vijayawada on National Highway 221.

It is famous for its toys which are popular as Kondapalli Toys and are cherished as rare collectibles by royal families and common people.

This place is also famous as a tourist place because of its historic fort and a large reserve forest which is the hub for many varieties of leopards, wolves, and jackals.

Presently, this historical fort is in ruins and steps are being taken to protect it as a heritage structure by the state government and other agencies.

The toy-making art of Kondapalli dates back to the 16th century A.D. when the original skilled craftsmen from the Rajasthan State of Western India moved south-eastwards to this place which is a thousand miles away in search of their livelihood due to political disturbances and other reasons. They found the wood available at Kondapalli perfectly suitable for their art. So they settled down there and began making beautiful toys with their artistic skills.

• Originally the toys were intended to be playful items for children.
• But later they discovered that people from rich families in India and foreign countries of far-off places bought these toys more for keeping them as collectibles and for their doll houses or festival decoration purposes.
• So, these skilled artisans began producing more and more toys in large quantities by sharing and passing on their skills to their kith and kin.

Thus, it became a famous toy-making hub with entire members of their families participating in the toy-making trade, and its popularity spread to all corners of the country through visitors and tourists and even to other parts of the world.

But later on, mechanization of every field resulted in the decreased popularity of these toys as modern-age children and adults favored electronic toys more than man-made toys, ignoring the artistic value of these treasures.

Recently the government is giving support to this art to protect and safeguard the interests of these artisans by spreading awareness and promoting the interest of these toys among the public through exhibitions and sales counters opened at all handicrafts centers and at all the tourist hubs.

Toy making is a very lengthy, time-consuming job with a lot of procedures and steps involved in it.

• Just like you draw images, here, you are carving the images on wood with a chisel and knife.
• It involves chiseling repeatedly until you reach out to the finest shapes that you may desire.
• You may need to shape the face, eyes, nose, body, and limbs of humans and animals which requires great concentration and effort.
• Much skill and patience are required for this job. Continuous practice combined with hereditary bequeaths makes it perfect.

As I told you already, they make it from the locally available special softwood known as "tella poniki" ( tella means white and poniki means wood), making carving easier for them.

• After the toy gets its complete shape, it is vibrantly colored using some homemade herbal colors.
• The eyebrows, nasal linings, facial expressions, everything is artistically incorporated with these colors.
• Mostly, men do the carving work and then, the women do the coloring work. Both are important for making a perfect doll.
• They take themes from real life in the village and carve the patterns.
• Some of the dolls, like the village maid, incorporate springs also to make it a swinging doll with head and body movements making it very appealing.

It's hard to put into words. You have to witness the artisans crafting the toys and see the enchanting art and beauty of the finished products to truly understand the worth of .those collectible toys.

• These Kondapalli Toys are distinct and are not to be found in any other place.
• These toys are made by skilled artisans using a special kind of wood available only at Kondapalli.
• Entire family members participate in this toy-making industry with deep love and interest in this art.
• This toy-making art is their treasure which they bequeath to their descendants.
• The entire work is based on real-life themes and natural events.
• Herbal, homemade colors are used in coloring these toys making them eco-friendly.
• These toys are collectibles and their possession is a matter of prestige for many.

I hope you appreciate my presentation of the importance of this specific variety of vintage toys and recognize their value and beauty.

These toys are worth it for your drawing room to increase the glamour and appeal of it.

They are best for preserving them through generations to come without any damage and pass on as a treasure to your heirs. You will be glad to see that your coming generations appreciate this invaluable treasure of artistic toys you have gifted them with so much love.

And, last but not least, you are saving the artisans' lives through your encouraging purchases.

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kondapalli

2) https://www.dollsofindia.com/