Tumkur Coconut Sericulture Lambani Banjara Embroidery

Tumkur district in the Karnataka Deccan plateau is India's second-largest coconut producing district (after Kerala), with over 300,000 hectares of coconut plantations producing both copra (dried coconut kernel for oil extraction) and fresh coconut for domestic consumption and export. The Lambani (Banjara) communities of Tumkur, Bellary, and Koppal districts are famous for their elaborate mirror-work embroidery — geometric patterns in red, yellow, and white thread with tiny mirror fragments sewn on blouses, skirts, and bags — that has found a market as Banjara craft in urban boutiques and export craft catalogues. Tumkur also grows mulberry and supports cocoon production that feeds the Bengaluru silk market.