PUNE, Jun 14 (IPS) – Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, on the western coast of India, bordering Goa, has at all times been identified for its wood toys. A picturesque city amid hills and luxurious greenery, Sawantwadi retains an old-world attraction to at the present time. The regal Sawantwadi Palace holds pleasure of place, with schools, faculties, and temples cloistered across the periphery of the lake, which was as soon as an extension of the royal grounds. Within the centre of the city is the Ubha Bazaar, or Hanging Market, which homes rows of outlets promoting the long-lasting wood toys which are a trademark of Sawantwadi.
The wood toys of Sawantwadi are a legacy that the earlier rulers nurtured, they usually mirror the spirit of the world. Generations of youngsters in Maharashtra and Goa have grown up taking part in with the life-like depictions of fruits, folks, and the pull-along toys that have been a mandatory a part of rising up. However immediately, these painstakingly carved, hand-made toys product of Pongamia and mango wooden are struggling for survival. The once-bustling hilltop market in downtown Sawantwadi, generally known as Ubha Bazaar (Hanging Market), is now a ghost of what it as soon as was. The artisan households who manufactured and bought these toys from their workshops-cum-homes are actually decreased to a handful.
So, what brought about the busy palms of those artisans to fall silent?
By the appears of it, a number of elements are accountable.
Backgrounder
In contrast to a budget machine-made toys that flood the market immediately, toys are a conventional craft in India, commanding a hoary lineage from the period of the Indus Valley civilization. Like many different facilities in India, Sawantwadi at all times boasted gifted artisans able to painstakingly respiration life into wooden and carving out an array of life-like figures impressed by on a regular basis life.
Over the a long time, the life-like depiction of vegatables and fruits was at all times been a specialty of Sawantwadi craftsmen. In fact, there have been different toys too, for each age group of youngsters: pull-along toys for toddlers, kitchen units for little ladies, bullock carts and different autos for greater youngsters, in addition to spoons, cutters, and ladles used within the kitchen. What at all times made these toys stand out was the environment-friendly methods and colours that have been used to supply them.
Toy-making in Sawantwadi had its origins within the arrival of Telangana Brahmins within the seventeenth century, who visited the dominion to participate in non secular debates with the then ruler, Khem Sawant II, who was extraordinarily well-versed in Hindu non secular scriptures and philosophy. The Chitrali artisans who arrived with the Brahmins introduced the craft of toy-making and ganjifa (taking part in playing cards) to Sawantwadi.
Ideally suited to the greenery and scenic panorama of Sawantwadi, toy-making right here made use of Pongamia and mango wooden, which thrived within the thick forests right here. The wooden used for the toys can be collected in the summertime and, after being washed and dried, not noted to get totally soaked throughout the complete monsoon.
After thorough drying, they might be carved as per the specified form. As soon as the toys have been carved out, they might be coated with 5 layers of earth and left apart for a sure time frame. The lathe would then be used on this stage to impart the specified form and end. They might be painted with a powdery combination product of tamarind and different seeds as soon as dusted off and smoothed with sandpaper.
After making use of a number of coats of paint, a coat of lacquer and pure gum would add the ending touches. To at the present time, the lacquer utilized in Sawantwadi toys is their particular function. It’s sturdy and by no means fades or chips away, regardless of how roughly the toys are used.
When toy-making was on the verge of fading out at one time limit, the native royal household gave it an impetus within the early Seventies. Primarily chargeable for this shot within the arm have been the Queen, Maharani Satvashila Devi and her husband, the reigning king, Rajesaheb Khem Sawant VI, Lt Colonel Shivram Sawant Bhonsale. The reigning royal household additionally arrange a workshop to make hand-painted ganjifa playing cards on the palace, which is useful to at the present time.
Difficulties in Procuring Inputs
Traditionally, Sawantwadi was a vassal state of the mighty Maratha empire. When the British defeated the Marathas, Sawantwadi continued to exist as a small principality with a benign ruler through the British Raj. The erstwhile British Resident’s residence in downtown Sawantwadi, at a stone’s throw from the Palace, testifies to these bygone days. The early years of the 20th century noticed Sawantwadi thrive in issues of training and tradition, with the rulers additionally making efforts to nurture conventional crafts and artisans.
In latest instances, nevertheless, deforestation has made it tough to get ample provides of pangara (Pongamia) wooden, whereas mango will not be appropriate for merchandise that want the lathe machine. Artisans have now turned to Acacia, Shivan (Gmelina Arborea) and Glyricidea, compromising on the standard of the toys. Glyricidea has significantly emerged as a favourite, however its being environmentally unsound and inflicting rats to overrun houses.
Lack of expert artisans
The painstaking nature of the job, the difficulties in procuring wooden and different inputs, and an unsure market that can’t assure earnings in step with the efforts put in have resulted in lots of expert artisans transferring out of the trade and choosing employment elsewhere. Industrialization within the neighboring districts has additionally been an enormous draw, whereas authorities initiatives to coach younger artisans in wooden carving have been lackadaisical at finest.
Only a few can carve wooden now, in contrast to prior to now. So, as an alternative of carving out a toy, the prevailing pattern is to refill sawdust into prepared moulds. This additionally helps maintain prices low and isn’t labour-intensive. Shashikant Rane, one of many only a few remaining grasp craftsmen in Sawantwadi, who the federal government approached about opening a Hastkala (handicrafts) Kendra (centre), tells me, “I entered the career within the early Nineteen Sixties, due to my father, who had acquired particular coaching from Abha Gawde, a widely known grasp within the craft. Conventional toy-making requires an excessive amount of endurance, beginning with the procurement of the suitable wooden. You procure the wooden in Might however can not work on it till a couple of months later. In these instances of fast turnarounds and large earnings, few are keen to place within the effort,” he factors out.
Rane has been coaching 30 kids within the craft yearly at his modest workshop-cum-home and is a a lot sought-after craftsman for outstanding tasks throughout India. Referring to the federal government’s lackadaisical method to coaching artisans, Rane tells me, “The Minister-In-Cost had recognized the venue for organising the Hastkala Kendra and spoken to me about his imaginative and prescient at size. However it’s over a yr now, and the plan nonetheless awaits finalization.”
Unfair Competitors and Dwindling Demand
There are different elements, too. Low cost Chinese language machine-made toys have additionally made customers transfer away from these lovely, hand-carved toys, which, owing to rising enter prices, promote at increased charges. One additionally perceives a change in style. P D Kanekar and Firm, a outstanding vendor of toys in Sawantwadi, has moved to fabricate non-traditional toys in recent times. Ankita Kanekar, from the Kanekar household, tells me, “Pangara (Pongamia) wooden was at all times used to make life-like vegatables and fruits prior to now. However nobody is excited about taking part in with these now, in contrast to the earlier technology. Pangara timber are solely obtainable in a couple of villages now. Apart from, a single set takes round one and a half months to be made. The work is painstaking and exacting, and the return may be very little. There are only a few good artisans training the commerce.”
She additionally blames the present transport infrastructure for dwindling gross sales. “Earlier, the street hyperlinks from Mumbai and Pune handed by means of Sawantwadi. However the highways now skirt our city.”
Altering tastes are evident when one browses by means of the outlets immediately. Imitations of machine-made toys maintain pleasure of place as in comparison with the creative depictions of musicians, vegetable -sellers, or fishermen in conventional apparel. It’s powerful to identify a bunch of bananas or betelnuts both.
Lack of presidency help is one other main issue.
The energetic help of the ruling royal household had bolstered the toy trade within the earlier century. This sort of help is not forthcoming. The shortage of a robust toymakers’ cooperative or guild can be partly guilty. “There is no such thing as a unity among the many varied folks within the commerce to barter in a single voice with the authorities and demand ensures or protecting subsidies,” rues a outstanding toymaker, requesting anonymity.
Consequently, Sawantwadi toys have been devoid of geographic identification (GI) till now.
Mild on the Finish of a Tunnel
As I write this, toymakers are jubilant a few GI tag having been granted to Sawantwadi wood toys on March 30, 2024. This opens up a brand new vista for them. Toymakers like PD Kanekar have already taken to promoting their toys on-line. “ We began promoting on-line through the pandemic when the whole lot shut down,” Ankita Kanekar tells me. The Kanekars promote by means of the DirectCreate platform to consumers throughout India. In any other case, gross sales are made to wholesalers based mostly in Goa, who, in flip, promote to these touring to India. It’s because “worldwide courier companies should not but developed from Sawantwadi. ”
Even so, with Goa’s newly-opened MOPA airport simply 15–16 km away, worldwide vacationers usually come right down to Sawantwadi to purchase these iconic toys.
One might effectively say that the GI tag and the inclusivity it bestows on these lovely handcrafted toys are a great starting. Nevertheless, much more must be carried out if these toys are to seize the eye of a worldwide market. Enhancing the courier companies in addition to authorities subsidies to the makers might go a great distance right here.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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