Jamtara Bamboo Basketry Santhal Parganas Craft

Jamtara district in the Santhal Parganas is heavily forested with bamboo stands of Dendrocalamus strictus that Santhal and Kurmi craftsmen harvest for weaving utility baskets, winnowing sieves (supa), fish traps (thamna), and storage containers sold at haath markets across the district. The bamboo basketry tradition is primarily a household skill practised by men who weave during the agricultural off-season, using freshly split bamboo strips in traditional hexagonal and diagonal plaiting patterns that vary in pattern density for different basket functions. Jamtara's baskets supply agricultural and domestic demand from surrounding Santhal Parganas districts and are sold to craft exporters through the Jharkhand Handicrafts Development Corporation.