Adilakshmi Toys helping artisans get their rightful due

Hyderabad: A childhood fascination for toys and yearning to promote local artisans and their craftsmanship resulted in Adavi Srinivas quitting his job of 18 years and starting Adilakshmi Toys. Offering eco-friendly, hand-crafted toys and dolls made of wood, clay, iron, brass miniatures, and stone miniatures apart from paper mache, Adilakshmi Toys was started in the […]

Hyderabad: A childhood fascination for toys and yearning to promote local artisans and their craftsmanship resulted in Adavi Srinivas quitting his job of 18 years and starting Adilakshmi Toys.

Offering eco-friendly, hand-crafted toys and dolls made of wood, clay, iron, brass miniatures, and stone miniatures apart from paper mache, Adilakshmi Toys was started in the year 2019 and has come as a big boon for the local toy makers.

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In the Telugu States, these dolls are primarily made at four places – Bonthapally and Nirmal in Telangana and Kondapalli and Etikoppaka in Andhra Pradesh.

“Each region has its own traditions and culture. Most dolls reflect the culture and traditions of rural life and we have nearly 500 varieties of dolls,” says Srinivas, who believes in eco-friendly products. He is helping the artisans by marketing their works on social media as well. The range of handmade dolls at Adilakshmi Toys starts at Rs 15.

A true believer in the ‘Make in India’ concept, he worked hard to find artisans from different parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The task was not easy and Srinivas quit the job he had been working for 18 years to come up with his own startup, Adilakshmi Toys.

“Since childhood, I had a love for our traditions, especially ‘Bommala Koluvu’. When we wanted to purchase, the dolls were priced high and I also saw many of them buying cheaper plastic dolls. To put an end to plastic and imported dolls, I thought of starting this business,” says Srinivas who gets the dolls directly from the artisans. “I always wanted to support artisans and want the work of our talented artisans to find its rightful place in the global market,” he says.

They get orders for return gifts, and party orders and also customise according to one’s preferences and concepts. “Some customers approach with certain concepts of their own and ask us to make dolls according to their choice,” he reveals.

Adilakshmi Toys specialises in marriage dolls which gave them an identity of their own. The price of their creations ranges from Rs 600 to Rs 10,000.