Today in almost 7000 villages in Punjab in one decade or the other rural sports competitions are being held. Rural folk organize them. In fact these village sports have opened the floodgates of village development.

Before Independence in 1947 major importance was given only to Kabaddi and wrestling, after Independence the circle of rural sports also got widened. The rustic "Khido Khaoondi" (literally a ball made out of cuttings of cloth and a stick twisted at the end like a flat hockey and players from villages, having no facilities beyond uneven grounds to play began to dominate in the game. Twelve of our country’s greatest hockey players have come out of a single village called SANSARPUR in Jalandhar District.

Hand-made toys of Punjab

The earliest hand-made toys of Punjab can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization, dating from 2500 to 1700 BC. These bear a remarkable resemblance to the traditional toys of a much later period, which remained popular though the ages till recently when factory made toys found their way to the villages. However, in some the remote village’s traditional toys are still made, though the factory made mass-produced toys are pushing them out gradually.

Among the most prominent toys of Indus Valley Civilization is the exceptionally large number of small terracotta carts. In their expression is a preoccupation characteristic of Indian Art of the subsequent epochs. As example we may cite the immense 12^th century Temple of the Sun at Konark, a building of vast dimensions supported by gigantic stone wheels and conceived and erected in the form of a cart. Or the Indian temple cart in which images of the gods, taken from the shrines, were carried in solemn procession through the streets. These more obvious instances are paralleled by later works of folk art depicting animals, equestrian figures and wheeled vehicles, all of which, though varying in quality and intended for different purposes, also mostly as toys, may be regarded as belonging to a constantly recurring type.

Traditional toys generally serve a two-fold purpose. They can be used as playthings by the children and as decoration pieces by the adults. Toys of cloth stuffed with cotton are still made by the women in the villages. Dolls, birds and animals are some of the common subjects. These are embellished with colorful additions of beads, buttons, feathers, tinsels and tassels. Sometimes the body of the toy is appliqued. The material used in this folk art reflects the dynamic spirit of improvisation. Besides their ornamental quality these toys have a sentimental value as well as emotional appeal

The popularity of the clay toys is diminishing day by day but still there are to be seen sporadic instances of miniature dolls in clay, animals and kitchen utensils, roughly colored with kharia mitti and decorated with motifs in bright colors.

Edible toys in sugar have a great variety of shapes. In village fairs one comes across toys with a scientific touch though naively native in character. In a basin of burnt clay is a figure of a man carrying Lord Krishna and a concealed siphon. When the water is poured into the basin, it rises to the feet of Lord Krishna and flows away, commemorating the rise of the waters of the Jamuna to touch the divine feet.

In the past, village workers would bring a newborn infant toys, representative of their respective trades. Thus a carpenter’s wife would bring a miniature bedstead or a toy cart to earn a rupee from the infant’s parents. The potter would bring a small earthen vessel or a toy in clay and the cobbler a leather necklace and receive some grain in return.

As the countryside is becoming more urbanized, the tradition of handmade toys is dying out and with it the individuality of design. This is not something, which can be revived artificially, for to do so would be to get the antithesis of the genuine tradition. But by preserving samples from the past we may, through contemporary designers, regain some of the beauty, individuality and delight of the simple form of old toys.

Source: Punjabstate.com