Vijayawada: Kondapalli toys reflect the lifestyle of rural India. These toys are world famous for their originality and unique craftsmanship. Only natural colours are used to decorate these soft toys to give them an attractive look. These toys are made of white Poniki wood. Of late the sale of Kondapalli toys has been doing brisk business in the national and the international market.
The long period of time taken to grow a full-sized Poniki tree in the forest is a major obstacle to meeting the requirements of Kondapalli craftsmen. It has now become necessary to take alternative measures to supply Poniki wood, otherwise the tradition will get extinct and the artisans, jobless. More than 40 families of artisans, which have been dependent on the craft for their livelihood, are confronted with a bleak future. It appears impossible for them to continue in their 400-year-old profession.
An artisan of Konadapalli, Sanduri Kotaiah Chari, said “Earlier, the government used to conduct workshops on skill development for artisans. Now it has completely ignored the rich tradition. Recently our craft sales increased hugely. At this time, we are afraid of the Tella Poniki wood scarcity, which is the only wood used to make Kondapalli toys.” He added that government needs to supply Poniki wood to artisans free of cost to preserve the rich art form for future generations. They also, he added, should take action to raise the Poniki trees separately for the traditional art.
“We are finding it extremely difficult to procure the softwood. Forest officials are preventing us from collecting Poniki wood in the wild. So the Tella Poniki wood cost becomes high. The poor artisans are not able to purchase Poniki wood at the rare auctions conducted by the department,’’ said Danala Naga Babu, another artisan from Kondapalli. It was also the responsibility of the government to ensure the welfare of artisans engaged in the craft, he said.
“The shortage of raw material, deforestation, planting of Poniki trees, are some of the main problems. It’s about the impact of tradition, if the artisans use another wood in future, the tradition may be lost. We wrote to the Forest department to raise trees in a separate area for the use of the Kondapalli artisans,” said I.V. Lakshminath, general manager, Lepakshi Crafts.
