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60% of Tribal Handicraft Artisans Are Women — Lac Bangles to Pattachitra
“Tribal Art Meeting the World's Markets”
Jharkhand's tribal women are some of India's most gifted natural artists, and they are turning that gift into enterprise. Sohrai and Khovar painting — practiced by Santali, Munda, and Ho women for centuries — depict animals, nature, and tribal deities on walls and now on canvas, paper, and fabric. These paintings, once private ritual expressions, are now sold in Delhi galleries, featured in international design magazines, and exported to collectors in Europe and North America. What the women of Hazaribagh have done is take their ancestral art form into the global marketplace.
Lac bangles are Jharkhand's most significant women-led manufacturing industry. In Rajmahal and surrounding districts, 25,000+ women artisans produce lac bangles — traditional Indian jewellery worn at weddings and festivals — that supply markets across India and are increasingly exported to the Indian diaspora in the UK, USA, and Gulf. Each bangle is hand-shaped on a hot lac rod and decorated individually, making them artisan products that command respect and price in global jewellery markets.
Tassar silk — wild silk harvested from forest cocoons — is woven into textiles by Jharkhand's women weavers with a natural texture and lustre that no cultivated silk can replicate. Women weavers in Bhagalpur (bordering Bihar) and Jharkhand's own Tassar clusters produce fabric sold in high-end stores nationally and internationally. Combined with forest product enterprises — mahua flower processing, kendu leaf trade, and medicinal herb collection — Jharkhand's tribal women are building a multi-sector enterprise economy rooted in their natural and cultural heritage.
Tribal Rights & Enterprise Advocacy
Journalist and activist who has championed tribal women's economic rights in Jharkhand, ensuring that tribal women artisans receive fair prices and legal recognition for their enterprises
Tribal Art Enterprise
Sohrai painting practitioner who built an enterprise network for tribal women artists, enabling them to sell directly to galleries and collectors rather than through exploitative middlemen
Sohrai and Khovar paintings from Jharkhand are in private collections in Germany, France, and the United States. Lac bangles from Rajmahal supply Indian diaspora communities in 20+ countries. Tassar silk reaches luxury textile markets in Italy and Japan. Jharkhand's tribal women artisans are ambassadors of India's indigenous cultural heritage in international art and design markets, earning crores in export revenue from their ancestral traditions.
Digital products designed to help you start, grow, and scale your business — wherever you are in India.
Learn how to sell your tribal art and lac bangles in global markets
Present your Sohrai paintings and tribal crafts to international buyers
Master digital selling and export basics for tribal artisan businesses
Track your production cycles, orders, and earnings every month
Join thousands of women entrepreneurs from Jharkhand and across India who use Srishti Digital Store to grow their businesses online.
Jharkhand has over 20 lakh women in Self Help Groups, with 25,000+ women lac bangle artisans, 15,000+ Tassar silk weavers, and tens of thousands of tribal painting and craft artisans. Sixty percent of all tribal handicraft artisans in the state are women.
Sohrai is a tribal painting tradition from Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district, practiced by Santali and Ho women during harvest festivals. Painted on walls, canvas, and paper with natural pigments and abstract tribal motifs, Sohrai paintings sell for ₹500 to ₹50,000 per piece to collectors globally. For tribal women with no other income, it is a path to financial independence rooted in their own cultural identity.
Jharkhand women are the primary producers of India's Sohrai and Khovar art, lac bangles, and Tassar silk — all of which represent India's living tribal heritage in international markets. Their work contributes to India's handicraft exports and supports India's case that tribal traditions are living, evolving, marketable cultural assets.
Online marketplaces like Amazon Karigar, Craftsvilla, and Etsy have opened international markets for Jharkhand's tribal artisans. Instagram has been particularly powerful — tribal women who share their painting and lac bangle process attract global followings and direct orders from collectors who value authenticity and cultural storytelling.
Start by photographing your art process and finished pieces. Create a simple Instagram account. Use social media templates to post your Sohrai paintings, lac bangles, or Tassar weaving 3 times a week. Your authenticity is your brand. Business eBooks from Srishti Digital Store will help you understand pricing for international buyers and how to ship your products safely.