Paper Dolls and baskets

Auroville, a place known for its calm and peace with its diversity is also known for its handicrafts. Auroville doesn’t just promote human unity but also helps the struggling craftsmen. With people coming from all over the place, most of them have come there for a progressive conviction of living with no networks they get closer to discovering themselves and their priorities.

Paper Machie is one of the major crafts in Pondicherry that was getting lost in the technological based world. The artisans who had their living based on the craft were moving to other professions due to lack of financial stability. So when an Israeli got interested in it. He decided to invest some money and establish a brand where he employed to help women from that community to gain a better living.
These women now work in the beautiful village near Auroville creating dolls and baskets made out of recycled paper. In the earlier days clay toys were the main attraction but soon craftsmen in Auroville started making toys out of paper which later evolves into baskets and pen holders etc.


The figures of deities were more in demand but these days they make animals and other toys for children. These toys and dolls are colourful as a part of the religious services. The main colours used are orange and red and the accessories are painted on the dolls to make them look rich. Nature, Mythology, folklore these are the themes the craftsmen use to entice the buyers. Now nearly 300 units are involved in the making of paper Machie dolls around in Pondicherry.

The basic technique used in making these dolls are quite simple as they have moulds and the paper which they use to make these dolls are generally newspapers to decrease the cost in making. The baskets are made by rolling the newspapers into a thin roll and pasting them in the right shape on top of another. They are then coated with varnish to stay strong. They don’t paint the baskets as the main aim of the craft is know the beauty of papers that are rolled beautifully into shapes and sizes. Whereas the paper Machie dolls are painted with details.

The making of these dolls takes around two to three days generally. When you walk into the place, it’s filled with colourful that sit beautifully on their shelves and the beautiful baskets in various sizes that are kept. The prices of these are quite expensive as they are a striving community.

Documented by Lakshana vivek