By Isla Quinn
Spin a Channapatna toy and the lacquer catches the light in a way plastic never does. A little uneven. A little warm. Clearly made by a hand, not poured from a mould.
The town’s toy trade is usually traced to Tipu Sultan, the eighteenth-century ruler of Mysore, who was a known patron of woodwork and the arts. The toys themselves may be older, given as gifts at Dussehra. One account says Tipu brought Persian artisans to train local craftsmen. What his patronage did was make the craft worth investing in, and for nearly two centuries it ran mostly on one wood: Wrightia tinctoria, called aale mara in Kannada, or ivory wood. It is a softwood, which suits the lathe. Rosewood and sandalwood were used now and then. Today workshops also turn rubber wood, sycamore, cedar, pine and teak.
The work moves in stages. Wood is cut and pruned, turned and carved on the lathe, coloured and finished with lacquer. Many parts are made separately and assembled afterwards. Vegetable dyes are used for colour, and the lacquer is described as natural, which is why the toys are sold as safe for children. That is the claim as the sources make it. Check a specific maker’s materials before repeating it.
One name turns up in the craft’s history: Bavas Miyan, called the father of Channapatna toys in the town. He is credited with introducing Japanese doll-making techniques, which made the work faster and less punishing.
Channapatna is nicknamed Gombegala Ooru, toy town. The toys hold Geographical Indication status, reported as granted in 2005. Artisans quoted in 2024 say the tag has not helped them much. By one 2006 count, over 6,000 people worked in 254 home units and 50 small factories.