Grassroot Innovations

C. V. Raju has revived the dying art of making wooden toys among the craft community in Etikopakka, a village in Vishakhapatnam district. After 1910 the craftsmen had resorted to using titanium oxide bonded synthetic colors for making wooden toys. Raju’s key strategy has been to strengthen the traditional local knowledge of making vegetative dyes, develop new tools, techniques and methods for increasing shelf life of the dyes and generate new uses. Raju’s experiments have resulted in many new toys imparted with vegetable dyes for which market is slowly emerging in India and abroad. The toys of Etikoppaka imparted with vegetable dyes come in various shapes and forms ranging from toys to candle stands to vermilion boxes and bangles. Their enchanting designs, bright colors and earthly appeal are very attractive. Today, they are a part of the rural folk tradition.

This initiative promotes safe, eco-friendly, and culturally significant wooden toys with a unique aesthetic, attracting a new generation of consumers.