Varanasi Wooden Lacquerware & toys is an ancient craft, where the toys are made in wood with sets of birds, animals, orchestras and dance ensembles. These toys are gaily painted and typically Indian but not folk in design.
Varanasi being a pilgrimage centre, the toys mostly represent deities from Hindu mythology. They are carved from a single piece of wood. The toys can be found in all sizes and are made without any joints. They are attractive and harmless playthings for children.
Varanasi Wooden Lacquerware & toys cluster is mainly concentrated in Varanasi district and scattered generally all parts of Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Chandauli district.
Unique to Varanasi are tiny wooden gods and goddesses, contemporary models of fish, ducks, cows, horses and other animals, tortoises that move their necks and tails, dolls of all shapes and sized are carved and painted in amazing detail.
Religious toys are generally two dimensional, hand carved, and painted gaudily. Whereas, the modern toys & Decorative items are generally 3 dimensional, made by turning and have modern patterns and themes.
The cultural theme based toys shows the classes of society, the daily lifestyle and activity of the people in rural India and also some profession which were popular in ancient India. Some examples are- women drawing water from the well, men wrestling in ‘Akhada’ or the wrestling ground.
The most common wood used for toy-making are-
- 'Safeda' or Eucalyptus is used for lathe machine applications
- ‘Kirbil' is used for hand carving.
- ‘Bhurkul’ or 'Gulhar' wood or Benjamina is used for light-weight toys.
- 'Shisham' or Dalbergia has yellowish white wood.
- 'Gulhar' has thick fibres, hence is used for not so intricate carvings.
- 'Kaima' has thin fibres, hence is used for fine carving.
- 'Bhokul' wood was used in the past, but its not available anymore.
Wooden logs are sourced from nearby areas such as the jungles of Chitrakoot and Sonbhadra. Pieces of wood are cut out from the logs according to the size of the toy that is to be made. Each piece is heated slowly to remove all the moisture from the wood.
The wood is either hand-carved or shaped using lathe. Lathe is preferred for toys that are axially symmetric. In hand-carving, first the design of the toy is drawn on the wood. Then, the wood is sculpted with chisel and hammer according to the design.
Toys are given several coats of paint, and finished with a clear or coloured lacquer. Bright and gaudy led less colours are used to paint the body. First, the toy is dipped in the base colour. When it dries, it is neatly painted with led less white colour. Two such coats are applied followed by the last coat of lacquer to bring shine to the surface of the toys.
Lacquering may also be done on a lathe. For slender and delicate items, hand-lathe is preferred. A lac stick is pressed against the toy which is fixed to the lathe. While the toy keeps revolving, the heat generated by friction softens the lac, making it stick to the toy.
GI Tag Registration Date : 30 March 2015
GI Tag Number : 457
Certificate Number : 234
Geographical Area : Uttar Pradesh
Special Cover Release Date : 13 October 2021
Cancellation : Varanasi 221 001
Type : GI Tag Cover
Cover Identification Number : UP/98/2021
Enlarged View of Illustration
Enlarged View of Cancellation
Back Side Scan
India Post has also issued a Picture Post Card on Varanasi Wooden Lacquerware and Toys, though the cancellation is at Bengaluru Museum Road PO where the Post Cards are issued, it is shown for information purpose.
Picture Post Card Issued on
Varanasi Wooden Lacquerware & Toys
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Back Side Scan with cancellation from Museum Road PO
Sir, Amazing article
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