Channapatna Wooden Toys

Channapatna is called Gombegala Ooru — the town of toys. My grandfather turned lac-coloured toys on a hand lathe here for the maharajas.

We use soft ivory-wood (hale mara) and colour it with lac and natural vegetable dyes, so every toy is safe enough for a baby to chew.

Cheap plastic almost wiped us out. A GI tag and buyers who care have brought the lathes back to life. When you buy one, a whole street’s lathes keep spinning.