PUNE, Jun 14 (IPS) – Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, on the western coast of India, bordering Goa, has all the time been identified for its wood toys. A picturesque city amid hills and plush greenery, Sawantwadi retains an old-world attraction to at the present time. The regal Sawantwadi Palace holds delight 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 retailers promoting the enduring wood toys which can be a trademark of Sawantwadi.
The wood toys of Sawantwadi are a legacy that the earlier rulers nurtured, they usually replicate the spirit of the realm. Generations of kids in Maharashtra and Goa have grown up enjoying with the life-like depictions of fruits, individuals, and the pull-along toys that have been a essential a part of rising up. However at this time, 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 diminished to a handful.
So, what brought on the busy arms of those artisans to fall silent?
By the seems to be of it, a number of elements are accountable.
Backgrounder
Not like a budget machine-made toys that flood the market at this time, toys are a standard craft in India, commanding a hoary lineage from the period of the Indus Valley civilization. Like many different facilities in India, Sawantwadi all the time boasted gifted artisans able to painstakingly respiratory life into wooden and carving out an array of life-like figures impressed by on a regular basis life.
Over the many years, the life-like depiction of vegatables and fruits was all the time been a specialty of Sawantwadi craftsmen. In fact, there have been different toys too, for each age group of kids: pull-along toys for toddlers, kitchen units for little ladies, bullock carts and different autos for larger youngsters, in addition to spoons, cutters, and ladles used within the kitchen. What all the time made these toys stand out was the environment-friendly strategies 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 spiritual debates with the then ruler, Khem Sawant II, who was extraordinarily well-versed in Hindu spiritual scriptures and philosophy. The Chitrali artisans who arrived with the Brahmins introduced the craft of toy-making and ganjifa (enjoying 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, neglected to get completely soaked throughout your 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 period. The lathe would then be used on this stage to impart the specified form and end. They’d 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 characteristic. 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 cut-off date, the native royal household gave it an impetus within the early Nineteen Seventies. Primarily answerable 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 purposeful 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 throughout 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 occasions, nevertheless, deforestation has made it troublesome to get sufficient provides of pangara (Pongamia) wooden, whereas mango just isn’t 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 consistent with the efforts put in have resulted in lots of expert artisans shifting out of the business and choosing employment elsewhere. Industrialization within the neighboring districts has additionally been a giant draw, whereas authorities initiatives to coach younger artisans in wooden carving have been lackadaisical at greatest.
Only a few can carve wooden now, in contrast to prior to now. So, as an alternative of carving out a toy, the prevailing development 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, because of my father, who had acquired particular coaching from Abha Gawde, a well known grasp within the craft. Conventional toy-making requires quite a lot of persistence, beginning with the procurement of the appropriate wooden. You procure the wooden in Might however can not work on it till just a few months later. In these occasions of fast turnarounds and big earnings, few are keen to place within the effort,” he factors out.
Rane has been coaching 30 children within the craft yearly at his modest workshop-cum-home and is a a lot sought-after craftsman for distinguished initiatives 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 12 months 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 shoppers transfer away from these stunning, 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 distinguished 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 all the time used to make life-like vegatables and fruits prior to now. However nobody is inquisitive about enjoying with these now, in contrast to the earlier era. Pangara timber are solely out there in just a few 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 practising the commerce.”
She additionally blames the present transport infrastructure for dwindling gross sales. “Earlier, the highway hyperlinks from Mumbai and Pune handed via Sawantwadi. However the highways now skirt our city.”
Altering tastes are evident when one browses via the retailers at this time. Imitations of machine-made toys maintain delight of place as in comparison with the creative depictions of musicians, vegetable -sellers, or fishermen in conventional apparel. It’s robust 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 business within the earlier century. This sort of help is not forthcoming. The shortage of a powerful toymakers’ cooperative or guild can be partly in charge. “There is no such thing as a unity among the many numerous individuals within the commerce to barter in a single voice with the authorities and demand ensures or protecting subsidies,” rues a distinguished 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 couple of 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 throughout the pandemic when every little thing shut down,” Ankita Kanekar tells me. The Kanekars promote via the DirectCreate platform to consumers throughout India. In any other case, gross sales are made to wholesalers primarily based in Goa, who, in flip, promote to these touring to India. It is because “worldwide courier providers usually are 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 may properly say that the GI tag and the inclusivity it bestows on these stunning handcrafted toys are a great starting. Nevertheless, much more must be performed if these toys are to seize the eye of a world market. Bettering the courier providers in addition to authorities subsidies to the makers may go a good distance right here.
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