The Kulala Handicraft Artisan Welfare Association has
applied for the Geographical Indication (GD tag for
the famous clay toys made
at Vilachery in Thiruparankundram, Madurai.
The MSME Intellectual
Property Facilitation Centre
and NABARD’s Madurai Agri
Business Incubation Forum
were the facilitators for this
application fled by P. Sanjai
Gandhi, advocate, High
Court and IPR attorney.
Officials of the Geographical Indication Registry in
Chennai confirmed the filing of the application.
“The toys are made of
clay from the Vilachery tank
and nearby places. All the
artisans here make dolls by
using mould and paint them
by hand,’ said Mr. Gandhi.
These artisans live
around the villages of Vilachery, Melamathur, Keelamathur, Melakuyilkudi, Keelakuyilkudi, Thuvariman,
Sambakudi, Karadipatti,
Tattanur and Vadivelkarai of
Madurai West taluk.
Historical details
According to the historical
details given in the application, the artisans of Vilachery worshipped at a Karuppannaswamy temple,
which was 300 years old.
The statue of the main deity
of the temple was made of
burned clay. The temple
was developed and administered by Vilachery villagers.
Inside the temple, one can
see colourful mud horses of
various sizes, which are donated by potters during the
annual festival celebrated in
the Tamil month of ‘PurattaSi:
“Every year, new horses
replace the older ones,
which are dissolved in the
pond. These are the evidence that people from Vilachery have been making
clay dolls for long,’ Mr.
Gandhi said.
P. Sivakumar, CEO of NABARD-Madurai Agri Business Incubation Forum, said
the filing of the application
was supported by NABARD,
the MSME Intellectual Pro- -
perty Facilitation Centre
and Madurai District Tiny
and Small Scale Industries
Association (MADITSSIA).
The current business vol
ume of these toys is around
₹15 crore, and it can be increased to ₹50 crore with
new marketing strategies.
“There are over 550 families
and 250 manufacturers involved in this business.”
These products are exported to the United States, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore
and the West Asian countries through merchants.