A small city located 60 km south-west of Bangalore, on Bangalore-Mysore state highway has been making wooden toys for children for more than 200 years.
During his reign, Tipu Sultan invited artisans from Persia to train the Indian craftsmen in making wooden toys at Channapatna or Gombegala Ooru, the “Toy Town” of Karnataka. Initially they carved the toys out of Aale mara or Doodi Ki Lakdi (ivory-wood) from the Wrightia tinctoria tree, but then switched to rubber, cedar and teak. This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication (GI) under the World Trade Organization, administered by the Government of Karnataka.
Here is a first-hand account of this fascinating place: Incredible World of Toys
Interestingly, this traditional craft has undergone another design twist in the hands of contemporary designers, who have started using the lacquered components for other lifestyle products.
Source: A Lamp - Atul Johri designs
Here is another perspective on this traditional craft:Channapatna - Back in the Game
In our times, the journey of any handicraft object is a strife-torn one, however as long as we keep preserving, evolving, and nurturing the crafts, we will do a good turn to ourselves and our progeny.
|
Thursday 5 June 2014
Woooden Toys - Chhanapatna
Makar Sankranti - Redefining Urban Spaces
Spring arrived with its myriad coloured kites.
Makar Sankranti, the harvest festival, is celebrated all across India and in parts of Nepal. Pongal, Uttarayan, Maghi, Lohri, Bhogali Bihu, Khichdi, Shishur Saenkraat...in different regions of India, it has a different name, different rituals and customs - yet it is all a celebration of a new beginning. From Makar Sankranti, days will be longer, the sun will be warmer, and it is believed and wished that along with it, the darkness of illusions will make way for new revelations - bathed in the warm light of wisdom.
During this time in Bengal, and in the city of Kolkata, thousands of pilgrims gather on their way to Gangasagar, an island lying to the south of the city, at the confluence of Ganga and Bay of Bengal. They take the holy dip and offer puja in the Kapil Muni temple. However, that's the destination, like all journeys, the tales they script on their way to that is what fascinates us.
Pilgrims from different parts of the country camp near Babughat, Kolkata, completely transforming the urban space with their own regional touch. Road side signboards and dividers become places to dry their clothes, the vehicles they have traversed in have become ingenious make shift homes, gypsies with their exotic wares of beads, tiger claws, musk balls, and seeds carved as snake heads wander around, and ash covered naga sannyasis sit with their bodies strung straight for city shutterbugs.
An otherwise familiar, mechanical city space suddenly transforms itself - the apparent borders between urban and rural, home and the road, the ascetic and the common man merge. And in that confluence of worlds, visual designs and compositions emerge...reinforcing our belief that design is everywhere.
Makar Sankranti, the harvest festival, is celebrated all across India and in parts of Nepal. Pongal, Uttarayan, Maghi, Lohri, Bhogali Bihu, Khichdi, Shishur Saenkraat...in different regions of India, it has a different name, different rituals and customs - yet it is all a celebration of a new beginning. From Makar Sankranti, days will be longer, the sun will be warmer, and it is believed and wished that along with it, the darkness of illusions will make way for new revelations - bathed in the warm light of wisdom.
During this time in Bengal, and in the city of Kolkata, thousands of pilgrims gather on their way to Gangasagar, an island lying to the south of the city, at the confluence of Ganga and Bay of Bengal. They take the holy dip and offer puja in the Kapil Muni temple. However, that's the destination, like all journeys, the tales they script on their way to that is what fascinates us.
Pilgrims from different parts of the country camp near Babughat, Kolkata, completely transforming the urban space with their own regional touch. Road side signboards and dividers become places to dry their clothes, the vehicles they have traversed in have become ingenious make shift homes, gypsies with their exotic wares of beads, tiger claws, musk balls, and seeds carved as snake heads wander around, and ash covered naga sannyasis sit with their bodies strung straight for city shutterbugs.
An otherwise familiar, mechanical city space suddenly transforms itself - the apparent borders between urban and rural, home and the road, the ascetic and the common man merge. And in that confluence of worlds, visual designs and compositions emerge...reinforcing our belief that design is everywhere.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)