Shajar stone, known for its unique patterns resembling nature, is found in Banda, Uttar Pradesh.
Despite dwindling interest, the One District One Product scheme has revived the local handicraft industry, boosting production and employment.
The Geographical Indicator tag has further highlighted its uniqueness, though challenges like high raw material costs and limited local market remain.
“People here believe that any reflection that falls on the shajar stone on a full moon night gets printed on it. That’s why the most common patterns found on it are of trees and bushes,” says Gopal Goyal, a journalist based in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. “Legend also has it that after Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru visited the district and a stone captured his likeness, later selling for a huge price,” he adds.
No stone reminds one of nature like shajar (dendritic agate). The word literally means “tree”. But that’s not the only shape found on the stone. The patterns it depicts could resemble anything—from a river in motion to a mountain scene to an abstract design. The markings it carries are iron or manganese deposits from water that seep into the stone during its formation over the ages.
Few people know that banks of the Ken river in Banda is where the world’s best quality shajar is found. The district is also the only one in the country where cutting and polishing of shajar is done.
Shajar belongs to the quartz family and measures 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness, almost the same as sapphire. The gem is considered auspicious, especially in the Muslim community.
A raw stone does not show patterns; it requires an expert to identify the gems that will reveal designs when cut and polished. People living near the Ken, especially the Mallah community, are traditionally employed to identify and mine the stones, which wash ashore from the riverbed during monsoon or floods.
“For the past 400 years, artisans in Banda have cut and polished dendritic agate,” says 58-year-old Dwarika Prasad Soni, whose family has been involved with the business for generations. On reaching the factories, the stone is first cut. If the pattern is not visible, the stone is worthless and gets discarded. “Usually, shajar is found in only 5 per cent of the stones. Sometimes, no pattern is found in the entire consignment,” says Soni. The stones with patterns are polished and shaped for use in jewellery or as mementoes.
Over the years, the business dwindled as people’s interest in the handicraft waned. “In 2017, only 30-35 artisans were associated with dendritic agate in the district,” Soni tells Down To Earth (DTE). “However, this small industry is now on the path of revival and the credit goes to the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme,” he says. “The inclusion of shajar handicraft in ODOP in 2017 has resulted in some 15 businessmen and about 250 people joining the handicraft,” says Soni.
Under the scheme, the state government provides a subsidy of 25 per cent on loans up to Rs 50 lakh. Soni says he was the first in the district to take a loan under this scheme and used the money to buy machines for his factory. “I took a loan of Rs 25 lakh in 2019-20. The turnover from my three factories has increased from Rs 25 lakh in 2019 to more than Rs 1.5 crore in 2022-23. Our production capacity has also increased from 5,000 pieces a month to 25,000 pieces. I now employ 12-13 artisans per factory, from just three earlier. I sell the shajar products to traders in Jaipur, Delhi and Mumbai, from where it goes abroad,” he says.
Soni also the led the artisans in applying for the Geographical Indicator (GI) tag for shajar handicraft in 2019 and received it in 2023. The tag highlights the uniqueness of the handicraft and its association with the district. After the GI tag, shajar handicraft has started getting regular opportunities to be showcased across the country in exhibitions organised by the government of India. However, Geeta Agarwal, who has owned a factory to cut and polish agate in Banda for about 25 years, says that shajar goods do not sell too much in such exhibitions because most of the visitors are not aware of the qualities and history of the stone. “Therefore, most of the stone cut and polished in my factory is exported to countries like the US, France and Germany,” she says.
Deputy Commissioner of Industries Gurudev Rawat tells DTE that the department wants more and more people to be aware of the uniqueness of the stone and of the fact that Banda is the only place in the country where the stone is cut and polished. “If people from nearby villages join the handicraft, it will get promoted. The industries department gives training every year to encourage the handicraft. The participants are given an honorarium of Rs 200 per day. They also get a toolkit for grinding and cutting stones,” he says.
Satish Chandra Bhatt, one of the oldest artisan of shajar in the city, says that this small industry has benefited a lot with government help, but will thrive only as long as the government supports it. Despite government incentives, the artisans of shajar face several problems, he says. The biggest problem is the high cost of raw material. “The price of raw stone is decided only after looking at its quality. It can range from Rs 1,000 per kg to Rs 5,000 per kg,” says Soni. Bhatt also says that after getting government aid, most of the artisans of shajar have become factory owners. “They have started buying raw material at high prices without thinking about how much the finished product would sell for. Due to this, the price of raw material has increased by 100 times,” Bhatt says.
The other major problem is the limited number of admirers of this art and industry. “The big traders are in Jaipur, Delhi and Mumbai. They control the shajar business and also decide the prices. It is very difficult for the local traders to get a business licence,” he says.
Agarwal emphasises on promoting the local market for the betterment of shajar business.
Apart from this, large-scale legal and illegal mining in the Ken river has adversely affected the availability of shajar. Soni believes that due to mining, shajar also flows away along with sand. He says that in four to five months of rain, he gets only 1-1.5 tonnes of raw material. “The government should do two things to promote shajar handicraft. First, it should establish a common facility centre in the district and, second, it should open a shajar bank. This will give recognition to shajar and will also help in promoting the trade,” he says.
This article was originally published in the June 16-30, 2025 print edition of Down To Earth