Rajasthani Puppets

The story of Indian toys and dolls is timeless as the land herself. Creative urge and boundless human imagination had crafted dolls and toys of various shapes and sizes from prehistoric times. Wood, stone, clay, cloth, fur and leather are used to recreate figures and events from the palpable world and also from the imaginary world of folklore, legends and myths. They are the repositories of traditional wisdom and cultural heritage.Playing with toys and fondling the dolls, the child learns his first lessons of survival and conduct. Replicating both the tangible and fantasy worlds, the toys and dolls map the socio-cultural history of any given society. From the simplest human figures carved out of stone, to the most modern g. I. Joes and barbie dolls, civilization has moved on and on reflecting itself in its toys and dolls. In India, the earliest dolls, unearthed from the site of the indus valley civilization, date back to five thousand years. The culture of dolls and toys still survives and keeps mutating itself according to time and space. Each region in India has its own distinct style of making toys and crafting dolls. Each toy, every doll, has its own story to tell