Etikoppaka

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Etikoppaka is a small village on the banks of Varaha River in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, India. This village is known for wood toys made with lacquer colors.

[edit] History

The traditional landlords of the village, the Rajus settled here over 200 years ago under allegiance to the Raja of Vizianagaram. They have been far in advance of their time. It is through their efforts that India's first co-operative sugar mill came to be located in Etikoppaka in the early 1930s.

Padmanabha Raju in the early 1900s, saw business possibilities in the lacquer products of Etikoppaka. He searched out dyes and processes that would enhance their quality and appeal. Despite these efforts, by the mid-1980s, fewer and fewer craftsmen were available to make the lacquerware because of increasing employment opportunities in the sugar industry.

The downward spiral was reversed by one of Padmanabha Raju's descendants, Chitti Raju. He gathered the few remaining and aging craftsmen together and exposed them to new designs and concepts at national-level craft exhibitions all over the country. However, it was left to Chitti Raju's nephew, C.V. Raju, to reverse the trend and make Etikoppaka a byword for quality handicraft.

He is the contemporary face of Etikoppaka's craft today, who looked at lacquerware in all its dimensions from design to marketing. The Fine Arts Department of Andhra University, the National Institute of Design and even the National Institute of Fashion Technology were involved in the design and development of new designs and products.

Elegant candle-stands for the German market was followed by specially designed lacquer casings for a unique range of timepieces for Titan. Better packaging saw the transit breakage rate come down and a special tie-up with the Postal Department has ensured safe delivery of the delicate hand-crafted items to far away markets.

As the base of the lacquer product, the softwood trees became scarce, C.V. Raju sought and got the assistance of the State Forest Department to improve plantation yields and also experiment with other wood that could take lacquer just as well.

Over the years, this combination of strategies has paid off handsomely and today, Etikoppaka's lacquer-ware has found good markets not only within India but also overseas, especially in France, Italy, Germany and the US.

The growing demand for lacquerware nationally and internationally, has enthused C.V. Raju and his family to set up a well-equipped design centre to train new people in the craft at Etikoppaka itself. A simple but comfortable guest house has been constructed to encourage experts to visit Etikoppaka to advise and train craftsmen locally. C.V. Raju has also continued the tradition set by his uncle, and constantly exposes his craftsmen to new ideas by taking them along to craft exhibitions and workshops across the country.