Andhra Pradesh is very rich in its range
and variety of toys. The best known and
with the widest range are the toys made
in the village of Kondapalli by a community
called Aryakshatriyas. Their toys are made
of a kind of lightwood, which is locally
known as punki.
Each wooden piece cut to make a specific
item is subjected to a process of slow heating
to draw out all the moisture. The different
parts of the image are carved separately.
They are then joined together. Crushed tamarind
seeds are used as an adhesive. After this
adhesive dries, another adhesive called
lime glue is applied.
Both water and oil colors are used to paint
the toy or figurine. Traditionally the colors
were very bright. Nowadays muted colors
are used. Painting is a delicate process
done with soft and thin paintbrushes made
of goat's hair.
The toys can roughly be categorized as
those representing scenes from actual life,
those representing deities and others that
capture animal figures. In the first series,
they make scenes that may contain more than
one figure. For example, it is common to
find a simple single hut with a woman cooking,
man climbing a palm tree, a woman milking
a cow or pounding grain or spinning a wheel
or youngsters minding sheep. These are some
of the other activities captured in wood.
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