Content uploaded by Pradipta Biswas
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Pradipta Biswas on Jul 16, 2023
Content may be subject to copyright.
Available via license: CC BY-SA 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
Shanlax
International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities
sha n l a x
#SINCE1990
http://www.shanlaxjournals.com 21
Wooden Toy of Chennapatna, India:
Beauty of Form & Socio-Cultural
Reection on the Characterization of
Toy
Pradipta Biswas
Assistant Professor, Amity School of Fine Arts, Amity University Haryana, India
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7817-1075
Abstract
Toy making is a part of almost every civilisation, and still, it is continuing as a living tradition in so
many countries. Toys play an overall growth for a child. It developed a child mentally, physically,
socially, and emotionally. Though it has started as a folk tradition or community-based craft, it has
commercial and strong aesthetical value. This study focused on the Chennapatna toy from India.
Chennapatna toy is a environment-friendly toy made with softwood, natural colour, and lacquer.
This study critically analyses the beauty of the form of Chennapatna toys and also explore how this
toy is made by natural substance. Like other art forms, toys also represent art, culture, religion,
society, and civilisation. This study also critically analyses the socio-cultural issues, which are well
reected through this toy-making tradition.
Keywords: Aesthetical value, Craft, Environment-friendly, Social, Culture, Tradition, Toy-
making.
Introduction
In India, the Indus valley civilisation is one of the earliest civilisations.
We found lots of toys from this civilisation like mother goddess, dancing
girl, votive gurine etc. These are just not toys; moreover, these represent art,
culture, religion, and society. India is a country that has lots of diversity in
tradition, culture, and religion that is reected well in its toy-making tradition
too. Channapattna toy-making tradition is one of the living traditions, which
is continuing for the last three centuries. Channapatna is a small town, 60 km
southwest of the main city of Bangalore, India. This place is very famous for a
wooden toys, craftworks, and lacquerware. These toys are manufactured in the
traditional workshop as well as in advance smallscale industries. Channapatna
is also called “GombegalaOoru” in the local language Kannada, which means
the town of toys.1 The World Trade Organization protected this traditional craft
with a geographical indication (GI) tag.2
Research Objective
This study identies the Chennapatna toy-making tradition in the area,
specically.
• To discuss the simple display of form in this toy-making tradition.
• To identify the socio-cultural inuence in character making in this tradition.
• To identify the medium of toy tradition, whether it’s environmentally
friendly or not.
1 Palladwar, A. Indian Toys Industry Doc Editing, 2016.
2 “GI Certicate for Channapatna Toys, Bidriware, Coorg Orange”. The Hindu, 2006.
OPEN ACCESS
Manuscript ID:
ASH-2021-09024153
Volume: 9
Issue: 2
Month: October
Year: 2021
P-ISSN: 2321-788X
E-ISSN: 2582-0397
Received: 13.08.2021
Accepted: 25.09.2021
Published: 01.10.2021
Citation:
Biswas, Pradipta. “Wooden
Toy of Chennapatna, India:
Beauty of Form & Socio-
Cultural Reection on the
Characterization of Toy.”
Shanlax International
Journal of Arts, Science
and Humanities, vol. 9,
no. 2, 2021, pp. 21–25.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34293/
sijash.v9i2.4153
This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License
Shanlax
International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities
sha n l a x
#SINCE1990
http://www.shanlaxjournals.com
22
Literature Review
Prof. Bibhudutta Baral and Mr Antony William
mentioned the method, materials, and the process
of curving. This toy-making tradition uses ivory
wood, but initially, they switched to rubber, cedar,
and teak wood. This tradition has more than 200 years
of history. They also mentioned in this study that
invitee artists from Persia trained the local artisans
of Chennapatna. They discuss the making process,
machinery, raw materials, and craftsmanship.
Jananee Rangaswamya, Tarun Kumarb, and
Kriti Bhallaa (2018) making a comparative analysis
in their study on Chennapatna toys with PVC
(Poly-Vinyl Chloride) toy which is made in China.
According to their research, Chinnapatna toys are
more environmentally friendly and less toxic than
Chinese PVC toys. But these PVC toys dominate the
market due to low cost and haze variation. On the
other hand, wooden toys are unaffordable in rural
areas due to their high cost and less variety in design.
R. Reshmi Munshi & Anitha M Manohar
(2018) highlights manufacturing process, tools, and
feasibility of forms which created through turning
machine in this wooden toy-making tradition. They
documented the complete manufacturing process,
from the selection of wood to the nal polishing.
Rashmi, R and Sadhana D. Kulloli (2020) develop
textile motifs from the visual images of Chennapatna
toys. Initially, they collect some original toys and
images from internet sources. Then they nally
select images from their collection. After that, they
create a nal combination of designs from selected
images for digital printing.
Methodology
Only a qualitative approach is used in this study.
This research is based on the beauty of form and the
socio-cultural reection on the toys of Chennapatna.
This kind of art element does not measure by a
quantitative approach. Author search-relevant
scholarly articles for the need to review literature
in the following online databases: Google Scholar,
Academia.edu, using the major keywords: Wooden
toy, Chennapatna, India.
History of Chennapatna Toy
This toy was originated in the reign of Tipu
Sultan. He invited artisans from Persia to train local
artisans of Channapatna.3 Gradually this toy-making
tradition has grown up, and it’s continuing with the
traditional process and materials. They started by
carving toys out of ivory then switched to rubber,
cedar, and teak.4 But this tradition changed its
structure, form, and stylisation over time by diverse
inuences. Channapatna toy-making tradition goes
in a different direction with the contribution of
Bavas Mayan. Bhavas Mayan is known as the father
of the Chinnapatna toy. His contribution to this
tradition is unparalleled. He sacrices his life for the
development of this tradition.3” As early as 1892,
hereditary artists called “Chitragars” were engaged
in wood-turnery, which is the basis of lacquerware
artistry”.3 Bhavas Mayan went to Punjab for the
study of lacquerware. After completing his study
on lacquerware, he started experimentation for a
period being. After that, he introduced the study of
the craft at the Industrial School in Channapatna. He
mechanised the craft through the power lathe. He
invited all cast people for joining the course. Even
he encouraged Muslims and scheduled cast members
to join the course. The noticeable thing is he applied
Japanese technology for toy making. He used mainly
ivory wood, but rosewood and sandalwood also took
place in his work.
3 Varghese, A. Channapatna Craft - Complete Process
and Demographics, 2016.
4 Baral, Bibhudutta, and Antony William. “Channapatna
Toys of Karnataka: The Art of Crafting Wood.” DSource,
http://www.dsource.in/sites/default/files/resource/
channapatna-toys-karnataka/downloads/le/channapatna_
toys_karnataka.pdf
Shanlax
International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities
sha n l a x
#SINCE1990
http://www.shanlaxjournals.com 23
Socio-Cultural Elements in Chennapatna Toy
In selecting subjects, artisans of Chennapatna choose
huge variations like a human gure, animal gure,
vehicle, cooking utensils, fruits & vegetables, etc.
A keen observation of socio-cultural aspects reects
through the subject of the toy, especially, on a
gurative toy. Most gurative toys (Figure- 1, 2, 3, 4,
5 & 7) represent a particular society and culture. The
caste system in India is originated in ancient times.
In medieval, early-modern, and modern Indiavarious
rulers transformed this system. In the southern part
of India, most of the people followed the cast system
very strongly. Though peoples from different cast
belong to the same society, culturally, they are very
different. Even a job also depends on the cast system.
People can easily recognise their unique dressing
sense because each cast has its unique style of dress
and ornaments.
For example, gure:5 indicate a business class
family. Most of the Indian businessman families are
healthy and fatty. These characters are well reected
through the form, ornamentation, and dresses. On
the other hand gure: 4 indicate a lower cast couple
probably associated with farming job those are
physically lean and strong. This socio-cultural issue
well reects through Chennapatna couple dolls. In
Fig. 6, Two village women engaged with their daily
household works. The dresses, ornaments, and the
character of the toy represent particular society and
culture. These kinds of socio-cultural reections
enhance the beauty of the Chennapatna toy.
Characteristic of Chennapatna Toy
The form is an important element when we
analyse a toy characteristically. In this toy-making
tradition, a strong minimalistic form makes these
toys very simple, attractive, and aesthetically strong.
The forms are geometrical; they mostly use spherical
and cylindrical forms. The artisans create a toy
from a real or an imaginary source. They transfer
shape from real reference (Fig. 8.b) to a simple
geometrical form (Fig. 8.a)following the traditional
toy-making process. Artisans shape the form of
the toy almost with the help of a turning machine.
It has some limitations because, in this machine,
only spherical and cylindrical kinds of forms can
be produced. Belongs to this kind of limitation,
the artisan can produce the enormous design of toy
from real sources. Artisans join very fewer numbers
wooden pieces to make a complete toy. Most of the
time, artisans maintain the basic mechanism of the
real sources. For example, toys like trains, buses,
bicycles can move through their wheels. They did
not use any electrical mechanism in the toys.
Figure 8 a Figure 8 b
Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11
In terms of colour application, this toy-making
tradition uses a very bright & vibrant colour. These
kinds of colours attract children so much. Colours
are mostly primary, secondary, black & white.
Before applying colour to the toy, artisans prepare
Shanlax
International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities
sha n l a x
#SINCE1990
http://www.shanlaxjournals.com
24
colour sticks by mixing lacquer and vegetable colour.
Toymakers are applying colour on a toy while the
wooden block is still rotating on the lathe. At the
time of rotation, the wooden block is quite hot, so the
lacquer colour is easily xed on the wooden surface.
Figure 12 Figure 13
The most important character of this tradition is
natural elements. Wood, vegetable colour, lacquer,
and glue are the only materials of the Chennapatna
toy. On the other hand, PVC toys grasp the toy market
because of their low cost and rst production. These
PVC toys are extremely harmful to the environment.
Low qualities PVC is also harmful to a baby’s health.
“The process of disposal of PVC toys also releases
energy, during the process of incineration, which is
wasted but has tremendous potential for recovery.
From literary sources, it is clear that many samples
of low-cost PVC Toys contain larger amounts of
toxic chemicals than permitted, which hurts children.
All factors cumulatively show that PVC toys cause
severe irreversible damage to the environment and
human health. On the contrary, Channapatna toys are
organic and have lesser environmental impacts and
are potentially non-toxic.” 5But Chennapatna toy is a
completely biodegradable and environment-friendly
product.
Conclusion
Chennapatna toy tradition is one of the oldest
toy-making traditions in India. This tradition is well
accepted because of its simple form, contrasting
colour, skilled craftsmanship, and aesthetical
content. Material wise these toys are completely
environment-friendly. This study tries to analyse
the toy tradition formalistically and socio-cultural
5 Rangaswamy, Jananee, et al. “A Comprehensive Life-
Cycle Assessment of Locally Oriented Small-Scale Toy
Industries: A Study of traditional Channapatna Toys as
Against Low-cost PVC (Poly-Vinyl Chloride) Toys made
in China.” Procedia CIRP, vol. 69, 2018, pp. 487-492.
point of view. Some socio-political issues like the
cast system, village life are directly reected through
this tradition. Simple mechanisms and high-class
craftsmanship enhance the aesthetical quality of
these toys. The observation power of artisans and
execution of toys with the limitation is commendable.
Creating different characters with simple forms and
limited colour enhance the quality of the toy in the
next label. For this reason, the Channapatna toy
becomes an art object rather than a craft.
References
“About the Municipality.” Channapatna
Municipality, http://www.channapatnacity.
mrc.gov.in/kn/about-cmc
Baral, Bibhudutta, and Antony William.
“Channapatna Toys of Karnataka: The Art
of Crafting Wood.” DSource, http://www.
dsource.in/sites/default/files/resource/
channapatna-toys-karnataka/downloads/le/
channapatna_toys_karnataka.pdf
“Case Study 2 - Lac-Turnery and the Lacquerware
Industry.” Women’s Role in Dynamic
Forest-based Small Scale Enterprises: Case
Studies on Uppage and Lacquerware from
India, edited by Jeffrey y Campbell, Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, 1991.
“GI Certicate for Channapatna Toys, Bidriware,
Coorg Orange”. The Hindu, 2006.
Gowda, Manasa, and D. Ram Raj. “Channapatna
Wooden Toys.” Sahapedia, 2018, https://
www.sahapedia.org/channapatna-wooden-
toys
Rangaswamy, Jananee, et al. “A Comprehensive
Life-Cycle Assessment of Locally Oriented
Small-Scale Toy Industries: A Study of
traditional Channapatna Toys as Against
Low-cost PVC (Poly-Vinyl Chloride) Toys
made in China.” Procedia CIRP, vol. 69,
2018, pp. 487-492.
Reshmi Munshi, R., and Anitha M Manohar. “The
Lathe and Hand Tools Used in Turn-Wood
Lac-Ware of Channapatna for Product
Forms.” International Journal of Textile and
Fashion Technology, vol. 8, no. 6, 2018.
Rashmi, R., and Sadhana D. Kulloli. “Revival of
Shanlax
International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities
sha n l a x
#SINCE1990
http://www.shanlaxjournals.com 25
Channapatna Toy Motifs on Textiles through
Digital Printing.” International Journal of
Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences,
vol. 9, no. 8, 2020, pp. 734-746.
Research Study on Productivity & Competitiveness
of Toy Manufacturing Sector in India Toy
Industry in India. National Productivity
Council, 2017.
Roy, Saurav. “Kahaniya - Untold Stories from
Channapatna.” ISSUU, https://issuu.com/
sauravroy3/docs/saurav_roy_cluster_doc1
Palladwar, A. Indian Toys Industry Doc Editing,
2016.
Sriram, Malathy. “The Chinnapatana Toy
story.” BLoC, 2016, https://bloncampus.
thehindubusinessline.com/columns/
brand-basics/the-channapatna-toy-story/
article8691097.ece
Samiti, Dastkari Haat. “How to Make a Channapatna
Toy.” Google Arts and Culture, https://
artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/how-to-
make-a-channapatna-toy/fwKisovsWjHlLQ
Varghese, A. Channapatna Craft - Complete Process
and Demographics, 2016.
Author Details
Pradipta Biswas, Assistant Professor, Amity School of Fine Arts, Amity University Haryana, India,
Email ID: p.biswaskolkata@gmail.com.