Banka Rajmahal Border Tribal Lac Kendu Farming

Banka district on the Bihar-Jharkhand border is a hilly forested district where Santhal and Ho tribal communities collect kendu leaf, lac, mahua, and sal seed NTFP from mixed dry deciduous forest under community forest rights. Banka's lac cultivation on ber, palas, and kusum trees provides income to tribal households who rear broodlac through rearing seasons and sell raw stick lac to traders in Nawada and Bhagalpur. The district's Mandar Hill — a rocky hill near Banka town — is a Jain pilgrimage site with ancient Jain reliefs carved into the hillside, attesting to the district's presence on medieval pilgrimage routes through the Ganga-Rajmahal corridor.