Channapatna Toys: Karnataka’s Lacquered Wooden-Toy Craft

1.1 What are Channapatna toys?

These are lacquered wooden toys from Karnataka. Artisans turn the wood on a lathe and colour it with lac. The craft is described as over 200 years old.

1.2 Where is Channapatna?

Channapatna is a town in Karnataka. It lies about halfway between Bengaluru and Mysuru. It is known as the “Toy Town of Karnataka”. In Kannada it is Gombegala Ooru, which means toy town.

The town is in Ramanagara district. In July 2024 the Karnataka Cabinet approved renaming the district Bengaluru South.

2.1 Which wood is used?

The main wood is ivory wood. Locally it is called Aale Mara or Hale Mara. Its botanical name is Wrightia tinctoria.

2.2 Why this wood?

The wood is soft and light. That makes it easy to turn on a lathe. A lathe is a machine that spins a block of wood while the maker shapes it.

The wood is seasoned, or dried, for one to three months before turning.

2.3 Is the wood running short?

Yes. Ivory wood is now scarce. Trees are cut at about five years instead of the ideal 15 to 20. Makers also use other woods such as rubberwood and sycamore.

3.1 How is colour applied?

The wood spins on the lathe. The maker presses a coloured lac stick against it. Lac is a natural resin. Friction makes heat, and the heat melts the lac onto the wood.

A palm leaf is used for the final polish.

3.2 Are the colours natural?

Sources differ. Tourism and arts pages say the colours come from vegetable dyes. Another source says makers now use non-toxic shellac colours. It says vegetable dyes cost too much.

So a safe answer is “lac-based and non-toxic”.

3.3 Is every toy made on a machine?

No. Neelasandra, a hamlet about six kilometres away, still makes the toys by hand.

4.1 What is the Tipu Sultan story?

The tourism ministry says Tipu Sultan invited Persian artisans to train local craftsmen. Tipu ruled Mysore from 1782 to 1799. This is a tradition, not settled history.

4.2 What do other sources say?

Other sources report different views. One view says Tipu encouraged Persian traders to buy the toys. That created an export market.

A third theory says British machine tools in the 19th century began the lathe work. The GI application says the toy industry is said to have emerged in the early twentieth century.

4.3 Who is Bawas Miyan?

One account says he went to Japan in 1904 and 1909 to learn lacquer and toy-making. He then started a training school. His son-in-law Syed Yeddulla took it over after 1914.

That account says no firm link joins Tipu Sultan and Bawas Miyan.

5.1 What does the GI tag cover?

The craft holds a Geographical Indication (GI) tag. It protects the name of a product from one region. The tag covers only wooden toys made in the Channapatna region with its lacquerware art.

Sources give the year as 2005 or 2006. So avoid the year in answers.

5.2 What do artisans make now?

Products include toys, bangles, boxes, fruit bowls, photo frames, trays and coasters. Makers also sell interior decor, jewellery boxes and key chains.

5.3 How is the craft doing?

An artisan quoted in one account says that about 30 years ago 5,000 to 6,000 people worked in the craft. Now about 1,200 do. Artisans in a news report feel the GI tag has not helped them much.

A 2018 life-cycle study found the toys about six times more energy efficient than Chinese PVC toys.

6.1 What are the quality-control rules?

The Toys (Quality Control) Order took effect on 1 January 2021. Its Second Amendment exempts goods made and sold by artisans registered with the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts). It also exempts products registered as GIs.

The rule is general. It covers registered handicraft artisans and authorised users of GI products. It does not name Channapatna.

6.2 Which facts do students mix up?

• The wood is ivory wood, Aale Mara or Hale Mara.
• Colour comes from lac sticks melted by friction on the lathe.
• Tipu Sultan and Persia is a tradition, not settled history.
• The quality-control order began in 2021, not 2020.