Jharkhand's Mandar Folk Percussion Instrument Receives Geographical Indication Tag

30 September 2026National

Mandar, a traditional folk percussion instrument of Jharkhand, received a Geographical Indication tag from the GI Registry in Chennai on 28-29 September 2026. The instrument has a cylindrical body of red clay with leather-covered openings of different sizes at each end and is central to Jharkhand's tribal and folk music. The applicant was Raidih Mandar Producer Company Limited of Jarjatta village, Gumla district, which filed on 24 September 2021, with the final hearing in Delhi in January 2025. Supporting evidence included archival records dating to 1915 and the works of Sarat Chandra Roy, Tarak Chandra Das and W.G. Archer.

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India's GI Registry is based in Chennai and functions under the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks | Jharkhand's other GI products include Sohrai-Khovar painting and Koderma's Kesariya Kalakand | Darjeeling tea was India's first GI-tagged product

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