Kinnal Crafts - Generations Of Incredible Creations

By Tharangini

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For two days we had averaged 10 - 11 hours on the road. We had already been on road since early in the morning for the day and it was 5pm now. Information overload was almost short circuiting our brains when Meera and myself reached the Kinnal village along with Pompayya Sir for some insight about the beautiful Kinnal art.  But all we could think about was another 5 hours of journey ahead of us and a bus journey home. We reached the workshop of Dharmanna Chitragar, who was busy working on his temple model. It was a modest workshop with older models of his art, covered in cloth, occupying considerable space. Some more pieces that were returned in exchange for newer pieces sat on the loft observing us intently.

As we looked around, some amount of awkward silence ensued. The fried brains did not know where to start and I could almost sense Dharmanna wondering what were we doing there sitting like zombies. I think we were wondering the same. After a few more minutes of silence when I was almost feeling sad that I may not be able to write much about this beautiful art, Pompayya sir saved the day by asking Dharmanna to show us some completed works and works in progress.  That's when things turned around and we landed up being there for one more hour, captivated and engrossed by everything we saw and heard.

Arms, heads and torsos of the figurines before assembly

A set of legs lay in another corner

Kinnal craft consists of traditional wooden arts and crafts including toys and religious idols. It also includes artistic paintings. Dharmanna's family like most others in the area were involved with the Kinnal art for generations. The history of the art itself can be traced back to the times of Vijayanagara empire. Therefore all families involved in the art are called as chitragars or artisans and now it has become a part of their name.

Dharmanna with an assembled figurine

Dharmanna with an assembled figurine

A flight of stairs took us to the first floor where arms, legs, heads and torsos in various stages of being colored were left out to dry. Inside a room there were brightly colored goddesses along with lions and tigers, waiting to travel to their various destinations.

The process of achieving the finesse using the traditional mix of 'Kitta' had to be explained to me a few times as it kept flying over my head. After my third doubt Dharmanna sat down very patiently to give us a demonstration of the entire process. This  included the application and carving, on a nearly completed head of lion that was ready for painting.

A figurine of goddess Lakshmi

A tiger in all its ferocity

Kitta is a mix of dried tamarind seed  powder that is boiled to make a paste, fine pieces of jute rags and sawdust. The tamarind seed paste acts as the binding agent. This is applied on the figures to give softer shapes and curves and for achieving finer carvings of the hair, teeth, claws etc. It is also used to patch up any flaws. The tamarind paste alone is sometimes applied to a cotton cloth and pasted over areas where a smoother finish is needed. Another mix made out of pebble powder and resin is usually used for making ornaments etc. Once the application is done it is set out to dry in bright sunshine for at least 3 hours. Proper drying is essential to enhance the life of the figurines.

Dharmanna with a lion figurine ready for painting

The demonstration also gave an overview about the kind of patience and concentration that was needed in the creation of each and every one of the figurines. It also cleared out our brain fog. He also told that most of the crafts he made were as per specific requirements of his customers and his orders mostly came from various temples.

Hemavu sitting with her collection of figurine in
her compact accomadation

A few houses down the tiny lane was Hemavu Chitragar's house. She was sitting outside washing vessels while her nephew was giving finishing touches to a cradle in front of the house. We were wondering where did she have the place to work on the art. She asked us to step into her house which was all of one room, with a small kitchen taking a part of it. A TV sat  on one of the built in shelves, playing news and the other built in shelves held all her belongings. In the bottommost shelf along the floor, over a dozen women centaurs along with a few goddess heads were sitting waiting to be painted. Hemavu joined us inside and all of us had to shuffle around to make place for her. She told us she got introduced into the art by her grandmother. After having been widowed at a very young age and having the responsibility of bringing up her son, taking up the family tradition of Kinnal crafts was a natural choice for her and it really helped that she was talented.

Goddess heads and women centaurs
ready to get painted

It was almost 6:30pm now. What had started out as a mediocre visit had left us enchanted for over an hour and a half. It is like they say ' There is always room for a dessert'. Even though our brains were full, Kinnal craft proved to be that dessert. There was always room for it even if we did not know it initially.

Kinnal Craft has received the GI (Geographical Identification) tag and its identification number is 159.

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