Artwork by nature

Once close to disappearance, Banda's shajar stone handicraft industry is on a revival path

- BHAGIRATH BANDA, UTTAR PRADESH

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,