What would you classify as traditional toys?
Playing with toys is an instinct that's evolved since the beginning of human evolution. Every infant gets attracted to toys, irrespective of their material, shape, size or colour. Anything that attracts them fuels their imagination and makes the object an improvised toy. Secondly, India is the home of toys! Indus Valley sites have artefacts that can be attributed to toys. The function of a toy as a play object never changed; its character, materials and shapes kept changing over time.
What are the different types of traditional toys found in India?
Almost every corner of the country has a toymaking tradition of some kind. Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Chennapatnam in Karnataka, Kondapalli in Andhra Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan, Dhubri in Assam and Nadia in West Bengal have clusters of toymakers who manufacture toys out of wood, cloth and clay. These toys are made by families who have been in this trade for centuries.
Terracotta toys could be as simple as those found from the Indus Valley or they could be handcrafted and coated with lacquer or carved to be made very fancy and decorative in shapes of animals, humans and flowers. The dolls made from wood in Varanasi, Kondapalli or Chennapatnam or the puppets from Rajasthan are very colourful and attractive. Despite the variety of toys, they all have a common objective-to entertain children. Styles in terms of appearance, treatment and materials used have regional variations.
This story is from the December 01, 2022 edition of RobinAge.
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This story is from the December 01, 2022 edition of RobinAge.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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