Wooden dolls were primarily started to get produced in Bardhaman district of West Bengal near Natungram village of Purbasthali. Carpenters community used to make these dolls for the amusement of children. Later, the dolls were also produced in Nabadwip, Nadia, thus were called the "Nabadwip dolls". The wooden dolls are also known as "Kalighat dolls" as they were also available in the street shops near Kalighat Kali temple of Kolkata. Generally, wooden dolls vary from 15 to 22 cm in height and they look like Egyptian mummies. Hence, these dolls are often called "mummy dolls". Wooden dolls were given the getup of housewives; earlier little girls used to play a game named "housewives" with these dolls. The artisans of Purulia district named these dolls "queen dolls".
Places of Producing Wooden Dolls
Apart from Nabadwip and Bardhaman, there are many other districts in West Bengal, where wooden dolls were been produced by the carpenter community. In the villages of Dainhat, Patuli, Kashthoshali of Bardhaman district, the wooden dolls are produced by the carpenters. Other places of wooden dolls productions are Thale-Raspur village of Howrah district; Srirampur and Chandannagore of Hooghly district; Daspur, Kanshona, Akulshanrha villages and Jharbani, Humgarh and Raulia villages of Garhbeta in Medinipur district; Ramgarh-Dharampur village of Jhargram; Bishnupur and Beltorh of Bankura district; Chorhda, Seneda and Brindabanpur of Purulia district. Wooden dolls were also made in many places of East Bengal like Dhaka, Faridpur, Mymensingh, Chittagong and Coomilla. Some of the dolls of these regions are exhibited in Ashutosh Museum in Kolkata.
Features of Wooden Dolls
Wooden dolls of different regions are distinguished by different features given to them by the carpenters of different places. For example, artisans of Jhargram decorate the dolls with many colourful designs; dolls of Bankura district have blunt noses; dolls of Purulia district are mainly bride dolls etc. Dolls of some area are triangular in shape whereas some are semicircular. Even the decorations made on the dolls vary from place to place depending on the culture and tradition of that region.
Formation of Wooden Dolls
Wooden dolls are first carved out of branches of trees then they are dried up before applying paint on them. Carving of the branches is done by male members of the carpenter family and the female members do the painting part. Red, blue, yellow, white, black and brownish colours are mixed with a paste made of tamarind seeds to paint the wooden dolls. Earlier, the painting was done by black myrobalan, red ochre, hingul, indigo, chalk and lampblack. The dolls were given the shapes of eyes, face and the folds of clothes by the colours using bold lines.
Types of Wooden Dolls
Apart from the bridal wooden dolls, there are certain other types of dolls. For example, artisans of Bardhaman district make wooden owls of different colours. They also make dolls of the figures of `Gour-Nitai`, `king and queen` and `Radha-Krishna`. Carpenters of Medinipur make wooden toys, which are shaped in husking pedals. Chordar artists of Purulia make bridal wooden dolls and "Radha"Krishna" dolls.
