What Is Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft?

Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft: In Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft, the toys are made of wood and coloured with natural dyes. These toys are made of a much softer wood, and the process is known as turned wood lacquer craft.
What Is Etikoppaka? Etikoppaka is a picturesque village in the Eastern Ghats(Andhra Pradesh) known for its toys and dolls made of ankudu, a light, soft wood native to the region.

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In News

• The Union government on January 26, 2023 conferred Padma Shri on C.V. Raju in the art category. Shri C.V. Raju is a renowned artist of Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft in Andhra Pradesh.
• What He Did? Shri CV Raju, an agriculturist from Etikoppaka Village in Andhra Pradesh, did a great job in reviving the unique Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft Industry.

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About Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft

Why Etikoppaka?

• The name Etikoppaka is synonymous with the beautiful wooden artifacts and lacquer colours.
• The artisans of this hamlet were high purveyors of a craft that had no equal, only peers.
• For the people of Etikoppaka, making beautiful and colourful toys out of wood has been a tradition that dates back to before India’s independence.

What Is Etikoppaka Bommalu?

The Etikoppaka Wooden Toys are made with lacquer color and are traditionally known as Etikoppaka toys or Etikoppaka Bommalu.

Location?

• The Etikoppaka village in Andhra Pradesh is very famous for its Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft made of wood. The toys are also called as lacquer toys because of application of lacquer coating.
• Etikoppaka is a small village on the banks of Varaha River at a distance of 64 Kms away from Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.

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How Etikoppaka Bommalu Are Made?

• The Etikoppaka Wooden Toys are made out of wood and are coloured with natural dyes derived from seeds, lacquer, bark, roots and leaves.
• The wood used to make the toys is soft in nature and the art of toy making is also known as Turned wood Lacquer craft.
• While making the Etikoppaka toys, lac, a colourless resinous secretion of numerous insects, is used.
• The already prepared vegetable dyes are further mixed to the lac, during the process of oxidation.
• After this process, the end product obtained is rich and colored lacquer.
• The lac dye is used for decorating the Etikoppaka toys, which are exported all over the world.

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History of Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft

• Etikoppaka’s toy-making legacy is thought to have been inherited in the early 1800s from Nakkapalli, a village 25 kilometres away from Etikoppaka (originally known as laccapalli).
• The artisans from this region migrated to Etikoppaka in the early twentieth century because of the abundance of suitable wood-producing trees.
• These artisans used to make temple carts in the past.
• The success for the Etikoppaka toys is thought to have come from the Rajas of Vijayanagram, who migrated to this region around the same time and acted as catalysts as landlords.
• As a result, one of the landowners decided to turn this tradition into a business so that the artists and artisans could earn a living and support their families.
• Etikoppaka Toys started using lacquer in 1906. Soon, the Etikoppaka craftsmen began making other crafts on the hand lathe machine, thanks to their unique skill and creativity.
• Dyes and processes that improved the elegance and quality of the artistic output were introduced during this transition.
• The craft has been perfected inexhaustibly over the years.
• This reflects the artisans’ relationship with their ancestors’ ancestral, cultural, ethnic, historic, mystic, and religious subjects, as well as their existing civic and natural surroundings.

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Significance of Etikoppaka Wooden Toy Craft

• Depicts Rural Life: Bullock carts, wells, birds, and women are common depictions of rural life on these toys.
• Lacquer Coated: The delicately etched toys are coated in lacquer.
• No Use Of Chemicals: Surprisingly, no chemicals were used in the toy’s colouring. These toys are sold in several shops throughout the village, but they close by sunset.

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GI tag For Etikoppaka Craft

• What Is GI? Agricultural, natural or manufactured goods are registered as Geographical Indications (GI) by the Geographical Indications Registry as per the provisions of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999.
• Category In Which Etikoppaka Obtained GI Tag? Etikoppaka Toys have obtained their GI tag under Handicrafts category in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

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