Ultratech Village
- Project Name: The New Village
- Location: Bassi Village , Chittorgarh (Rajasthan)
- Site area: 6.5 Acres
- Built-up area: 15,000 sq. ft
The village Bassi, situated at Rajasthan, nearest statutory town being, Chittorgarh. The village covers a tottal area of 637.72 hectares of which forest area is 370.44 hectares, non- agriculture area is 16.44 hectares which houses 11743 people, 2362 households. Out of which the female population is 40.9%, their literacy rate being 24.5 %. Overall literacy rate of the village is 61.5 %, as per 2011 census.
As is observed, the history of a folk art is always ambigious. Each legend seems plausible, adding to the charm and mystery of a folk tradition. Similiar is the case with Kawad, local toy making art and technique.
Kawad is a custom, dating back to atleast 500 years. It was started towards the end of Mughal rules, when worship in temples, was disallowed by emperor Aurangageb.
Kawad today, comes in sizes ranging from 3inches to 4feet. These days outside the village, kawad has become more of a decor item,hence artisans make them in many sizes depending on customer demand. These toys are usually made of Mango or Aadu wood.
Currently, the toy making art has slowly lost relevance with the advent of industrialization. the sector carries the stigma of inferiority and backwardness, and is viewd as “decorative, peripheral and elitist”. This is compounded by the Governament’s treatment of toy making as a sunset industry, which has resulted in a lack of well developed policies and programmes to protect and strengthen the ecosystem for the artisans.
The four main challenges facing artisans in creating the sustainable livlihoods in todays economy can be summerized into :
- Low Education
- Lack Of Funding
- Information Asymmetry
- Lack Of Market Linkage
- Unorganised Production
- Dominance Of Middle Men
- Lack Of Interest by Second Generations
For Walkthrough – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xg69x0YydKU&t=7s