Path leading to stalls displaying and selling tribal jewellery welcomes the visitors to the Jharkhand Pavilion in the ongoing India International Trade Fair (IITF) at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan.
The 35th edition of the country’s largest trade fair has drawn thousands of visitors from far and wide to the various pavilions and the diverse items on display. Be it the lac bangles or the silk sarees, tribal jewellery all products drip of the essence of every corner of Jharkhand and the tremendous effort that has gone into its making.
“We are witnessing a massive response this year to our stall. We have all sorts of tribal jewellery for sale such as the hasuli, thela, tarpat, pahuchi, mandli, jhumka, matar rola, sikri, kadhas and more. The specialty is they made of German silver that does not lose their shine. Girls and women of all age groups have been flooding my stall and appreciating my work,” said Yashoda Soni, an exhibitor.
Soni told us that the jewelleries are hand-made and are available at a price range of Rs 200-2000. Tone of the popular item at these jewellery stalls seems to be Tikuli. “Tikuli is an attractive work on superior quality glass finished with gold or silver leaves and these are worn by women on foreheads,” explained Soni.
All the stalls at the pavilion highlighted the year’s theme through their décor showcasing the diverse art and culture. Out of the 42 stalls put up by the state, one is owned by the State Government and two by private players. Rest 39 stalls have been put up by hard-working artisans from all over Jharkhand. Jharcraft’s lac bangles, bamboo crafts, wood crafts, Paitkar paintings, ornaments made of metal and paper, stone carvings, silk, cotton and khadi sarees, necklaces, bangles and earrings made out of paper has been attracting thousands of visitors to these stalls.
“The live display of making of lac bangles has been attracting crowds of all age groups and all cultures. Each bangle is different and elegantly carved by us that are being hurriedly taken away from the stalls at a price range of Rs 100-500 depending on their size and design,” said Parvati Soni, one of the exhibitors.
The Industries department authorities from the state seem to be quite pleased with the huge response the small-scale enterprises have been able to draw at the fair. “The overall response is very positive and in fact, few products such as the lac bangles, hand-made tribal jewellery, herbal shampoo, conditioners, khadi items and jharcrafts have been hugely appreciated. The pavilion is earning Rs50,000-60,000 on an average every day, which is not bad at all. There is huge scope and potential in our state and this has been noticed by visitors from all over,” said AT Mishra, Special Secretary, Industry Department.
The 35th IITF is witnessing an overall participation of over 7,000 domestic and international firms with Afghanistan being the partner country and Jharkhand and Goa being the partner states. Firms from over 25 countries are displaying their diversified resource, art and culture.