Aptly called as the land of toys, the little town of Nirmal is nestled amidst hills and forests of Adilabad, a district in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The little town which occupies a leading place in the handicrafts map of India is Nirmal; the land of crafts and craftsmanship. The specialty of this craftsmanship is the utilization of simple articles, which are available locally in abundance.

This is where simple materials are transformed into exquisite crafts and articles of utility. This is the art form, which originated in 14th century. Under the royal patronage of then ruling nobility Nirmal craftsmen have expertise in wooden engravings.

The uniqueness of Nirmal crafts is that local available materials are used. The list of Nirmal goods is endless but the basic material used is wood whether it is furniture, toys, plaques, bangles, jewellery boxes, screens or miniature paintings.

The craftsmen use
indigenous mineral and vegetable dyes for colouring their products. They even produce gold covers from herbal extracts. Expermentation of colours resulted in many transformations.

It is learnt that when this craft first started it was limited in its range. The first articles were based on figures and episodes from mythology and were purely art objects. But the dawn of 17th century saw a new horizon of this art form. The local talent was exploited and articles of utility and decoration started to be manufactured.

Legend says that the Nizams of Hyderabad were very much inclined by the Nirmal craftsman ship.

Once during his visit to Nirmal The Nizam was given a tremendous grand welcome, all the craftsmen indulged themselves in decorating the venue; which included an intricately designed banana bud whose petals were coloured gold. This embellishment was suspended above the Nizam’s seat, which unfurled and showering cascade of golden coloured petals on The Nizam. The SomaKshatriyas or the woodcarving received the royal patronage of the overwhelmed Nizam.

The toys are made up of locally available ‘Ponki chekka’ which is very light and flexible and can be cut into desired shape and size depending upon the toy to be made. Then various parts of toy are glued together by specially prepared glue and coated with chinta lappam, which is prepared from sawdust and boiled tamarind seeds and coated with white clay, which smoothens any ridges and depressions if any in the toys. The toys are then dried and finally coloured with brilliant hues. Mostly indigenously prepared hues are used for colouring the toys, very rare and occasional use of synthetic colours is done

The making of the wall plaques or the artifacts slightly varies from that of making, toys. The wood, which is being used here, is teak, which is well finished on lathe before painting the predefined design. Then the plaque is sprayed with Duco paint in the desired background colour, the artist then paints the already determined design. The quality of paintings is very high with intricate designs ,rare artistry and skill giving rise to breath-taking beauty.

Keeping pace with the fast changing trends the Nirmal craftsmen have developed styles to suite the modern taste without moving away from tradition and intricacy of the art the items are contemporary in design. Experimentation with colours has resulted in hues, which are very tasteful.

The Nirmal painting was developed in Hyderabad in last few decades seasoned with teak, duco paint and varnish.

The ‘Nirmal Industry’ has been growing ever since its inception in 1951 at Hyderabad, which developed Nirmal paintings, and handicrafts command the international market.

Nirmal Toys Industrial Cooperative Society is situated on National Highway # 7, which was established in 1955 housing 60 artisans is the main toy making unit while the Hyderabad branch manufactures furniture and miniature paintings.

No modern artifact can compete with inquisitively handcrafted Nirmal artifacts.

From time immemorial the craftsmen have stood like backbone to the society as well as to the civilization. Without their contribution a village or a city would be incomplete.

Nirmal artifacts rightfully deserve to be glowing vibrantly.