TRADITIONAL TOYS OF KONDAPALLI
a documentation on traditional wooden toys of Kondapalli, Andhra Pradesh.

About the project

India has glorious tradition in toys. The tradition of toys started from Harappa and Mohenjodaro which have thown up a magnificient profusion of clay toys of considerable ingenuity, animals with moveable heads, monkeys that slide round a stcik and the most skilful toy carts.

My tryst with traditional toys begun in my childhood when I used to spend my summer vacations with my Grandparents in Andhra Pradesh. Each visit included an essential visit to Lepakshi Emporium in the city which meant buying a new traditional toy to show off to friends back in Delhi; the toys which were so popular with other children and common in the show-cases of living rooms
of relatives and friends in Andhra Pradesh. Kondapalli, Nirmal and Etikoppaka toys are the most significant wooden toys made in the Andhra Pradesh. I decided to study and document Kondapalli toys which are traditional wooden toys carved by artisans. This month long project gave me not
only an opportunity to revisit memories of toys but also answer the questions that I never tried to
answer before.

Kondapalli toys are the traditional toys carved by artisans in the village of Kondapalli, Andhra Pradesh. Kondapalli toys are famous for their light weight, vibrant colors and age-old production techniques. Themed around mythology, rural life and animals, these toys exhibit joyous and
realistic expressions.

Guided by:
Prof. Sumant Rao
Special Project, Winter 2009, IDC, IIT Bombay