Yaduveer and Trishikha impressed by eco-friendly wooden marvels 

Mysore/Mysuru: Scion of erstwhile Mysore royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and his wife Trishikha Kumari Wadiyar said that they will create an online marketplace for the promotion of GI-tagged Channapatna toys. 

The small town produces dolls made of wood, tiny wooden utensils, brightly lac-coloured birds and animals. Hand-crafted and hand-painted by skilled craftsmen, these figurines were once popular all over India. But sadly, with changing times, this industry is on the decline. What sets these toys apart from other innovative toys is that they are eco-friendly — they are made of non-toxic vegetable colour dyes.

Visiting the Craft Park located near Mahadeshwara Temple on Thursday, Yaduveer and his wife told reporters that the online market will be provided to toy-makers of Channapatna. 

“We have initiated the process of online promotion and we both feel that such a platform would help toy-makers reach out to markets in other States and even abroad as they are safe for children, eco-friendly and indigenous. The online marketplace will have branding of Mysore royal family as Wadiyars are known for their patronage to Channapatna toys,” Yaduveer said. 

He added that the name of the online platform would be announced soon. “Such measures are needed to popularise the art form and give the local artisans the much-needed boost to promote and market their unique art works,” he said. 

The range of toys include toys, trains, small vintage cars, animals, and other items like beads, key-chains, wall-hangers, earrings, decorative boxes, pencil stands, miniature musical instruments to chess boards, tableware, jewellery, lamps and vases and more. 

The artisans use their own innovative methods and advanced tools to make toys and they use ivory wood. These trees are available aplenty in and around Ramanagara district and the wood is light weight suitable to make lighter toys. 

 Craft Park Manager Shanthaiah showed around the outlet to Yaduveer couple and told them how the toy industry that was actively promoted by Wadiyars has seen a decline of late. Trishikha even tried her hands out in painting the toys.