Kondapalli is a small village off the main road leading from Ibrahimpatnam to Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. Along this stretch, you can see men and women sitting on the verandah of their houses, working diligently.
Kurella Venkatachari does not lift his head from the little wooden figurine he holds in one hand and a sharp curved knife he holds in the other. His wife Jyothi, too, is busy adding dots of Fevicol to the base of all the small figurines. This scene has not changed in years. It has been the same for a long, long time and it is as though time has stopped here. Venkatachari and Jyothi belong to the group of artisans involved in making the time-tested, traditional Kondapalli toys.
The name Kondapalli 'toys' seems like a misnomer of sorts. Firstly, you cannot play with these, and secondly they are not made for children. Once bought, Kondapalli toys continue to remain on the shelves of houses, gathering dust if not careful. It is a delicate and arduous art, colourful and vibrant, but has also become monotonous. Most of the stuff produced by the 100 odd artisans in and around this village is bought by the state government, to be displayed in government-run shops and gifted to dignitaries visiting the state. These toys are made from Tella Poniki or white sander wood. The special chisel which is really a curved knife is called bahudara. It is the man's job to carve the figurines. The body parts are stuck later on with the help of Fevicol. The artisans also use pulverised tamarind seeds and saw dust to make crowns for some of the figurines.
Finally after the entire figurine is ready, the women get busy colouring the toys. The most famous forms of the Kondapalli Bommallu include Dashavataralu— ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, Ambari or the caparisoned elephant and Palakis or the palanquin, with a bride and groom.
"The relevance of these art forms and handicrafts has changed in today's homes, except for the few patrons here and there. Kondapalli toys are essentially show-pieces, with cultural relevance, which has also changed," says Sohini Chaparala, who is working on a government project to uplift the traditional Kondapalli toys.
Photo: Ramchander Pentuker
"The capacity of the artisans hasn't undergone much change either—their skills, unlike a few other traditional forms, cannot match the finish of machine-made products. This is due to the artisans' reluctance to change and general lack of exposure to the market. Over-dependence on government aid programmes is choking innovation. Once there is no market demand, the educated younger generation finds other professions more gratifying," she adds after doing much research in this field.
There are a few legends associated with the Kondapalli Bommallu. The village was named after a shepherd—Kondadu—who showed this location to a Reddy king. A fort was built here in 1360 AD. While it is considered a part of tourist itinerary, there is nothing redeeming about the fort. But during the Qutb Shahi period, this was used as a hill fortress. Then the British used it as a strategic location and a military school existed here till 1859.
There is yet another legend attached to how this group of people and the art came to be in this location. It is believed that almost 400 years ago, a small community of people reached here from Rajasthan. They were skilled at making these colourful art pieces which attracted the Muslim kings who bestowed this land to the community.
Earlier, the village must have existed in the midst of a forest, but now it has given way to highways, power plants and the bustling metropolis Vijayawada is just 20km away. Because of which the light wood of Tella Poniki has now become difficult to procure, though the entire village literally is situated at the base of a reserve forest. When Venkatachari talks about this basic requirement, he looks around suspiciously and then whispers that the wood is 'home delivered'. In fact artisans who make Nirmal toys, near Adilabad in Telangana, also use the same wood for their toys.
Munduru Shankar runs a small shop on this lane, where in the anteroom the artisans make the famous toys. He says: "I have everything in this shop, even Chinese stuff." And he goes on to show some miniature motorbikes. He says tourists normally go in for glass or acrylic-covered Kondapalli toys so that they do not have to clean it everyday. These are normally the Dashavatars, the caparisoned elephants or the palanquins.
This might be a dying art, but close to 200 families making a living out of this art have a reason to cheer. Lack of innovation to match with market competition has called for a fresh look at the Kondapalli toys. IL&FS Education & Technology Services had started an initiative called Mpower to assist Members of Parliament promote local projects. And so, Mpower assigned Sohini to help Vijayawada MP Nani Kesineni promote the Kondapalli toys project.
Photo: Ramchander Pentuker
"The MP is progressive and supported all our efforts at planning and initiating such projects, including self-funding a particular pilot. A couple of them finally took off, one being Kondapalli," says Sohini. "With support from IL&FS Clusters team, we got a 1.6 crore central government grant for the integrated development of this art cluster. I was involved in implementing this," she adds.
"The government also tries and includes the artisans in its outreach programmes. They, however, cannot inject innovation into all the traditional art forms in the state; it has to come from the artisans for a sustained change," says Sohini, adding that both the state government and local bureaucrats were very supportive of the programme.
Talking of innovation, Venkatachari proudly says that he designed a bullock cart with its driver taking the farm produce to the village. There are many such models but Venkatachari says, "You can keep a dozen of the same, but I will recognise what is made by me. One because each person has a different ability and second because I go in for more detailing." There is pride in his voice, but whether this pride in the work will get carried by future generations is the point.
The next generation aspires of higher education. Venkatachari's daughter, who secured a good rank in the common entrance test is all set to join engineering, with a scholarship. His son is now in class 10. "When they get jobs, they will also go out to work and come back home to relax," says Jyothi, but rushes to add that both the children help when they are free.
