Jharkhand is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It is the 15th largest state by area, and the 14th largest by population. Hindi is the official language of the state. The city of Ranchi is its capital and Dumka its sub-capital. The state is known for its waterfalls, hills and holy places; Baidyanath Dham, Parasnath, Dewri and Rajrappa are major religious sites. Jharkhand is primarily rural, with about 24% of its population living in cities.
Hazaribagh is a city and a municipal corporation in Hazaribagh district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the divisional headquarters of North Chotanagpur division. It is considered as a health resort and is also popular for Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary. It is represented in the Indian Lok Sabha by its Member of Parliament Manish Jaiswal.
The tribes of Jharkhand consist of 32 scheduled tribes inhabiting the Jharkhand state in India. In 1872, only 18 tribes were counted among the scheduled tribes from which Banjara, Bhatudi, Chik Baraik, and Mahli were marked as semi-Hindu aboriginal and Kora as proletariat Hindu. In the 1931 census, including the above four semi-Hindu aboriginal and Kora, a proletariat Hindu, the number was raised to 26 from 18. They were Birajia, Godait, Karmali and Paharia, but Kisan was excluded from the list. In the 1941 census, Baga, Bedia and Lohra were included again taking Kisan in the annexure and the number came to 30 which prevailed till June 2003. Kanwar and Kol were added on 8 June 2003 in the annexure and the number of Schedule Tribes came to 32.
The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
Birhor are a tribal/Adivasi forest people, traditionally nomadic, living primarily in the Indian state of Jharkhand. They speak the Birhor language, which belongs to the Munda group of languages of the Austroasiatic language family.
The Birhor language is a highly endangered Munda language spoken by the Birhor people in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, and Maharashtra states in India.
Ram Dayal Munda, known as R. D. Munda, was an Indian scholar and regional music exponent. He was awarded the Padma Shri of the year 2010 for his contribution to the field of art.
Om Prakash Jain is an Indian art collector, patron and philanthropist. He is the Founder-President of the Sanskriti Pratishthan, established in 1979, which runs the Sanskriti Kendra Museums at Anandagram, Delhi.
Birendranath Datta was an Indian academician, linguist, author, researcher of folklore, singer, and lyricist. During his career, he worked mainly as a professor in a variety of Assam colleges. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for Literature and Education, and in 2010 he received the Jagaddhatri-Harmohan Das Literary award. Datta was elected as the president of Asom Sahitya Sabha for the 2003 North Lakhimpur Session, and the 2004 Hojai Session.
Rajeev Sethi is a noted Indian designer, scenographer and art curator.
Tourism in Jharkhand refers to tourism in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Jharkhand is known for its waterfalls, hills and holy places.
Ravindra Singh Bisht is an Indian archaeologist, known for his scholarship on Indus valley civilization and efforts to conserve Indian national monuments. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2013, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of archaeology.
Ranjit Bhargava, is an Indian environmentalist, known for his endeavors towards environmental conservation and his efforts for obtaining UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the upper Ganga region. The Government of India honored him in 2010, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri. He is also a recipient of the Order of the Golden Ark from Prince Bernard of the Netherlands and the Order of Merit of the Government of Germany.
Bal Krishen Thapar was an Indian archaeologist who served as the Director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1978 to 1981. He was the founder of INTACH.
Om Prakash Agrawal was an Indian Conservationist and the founder member of several organizations related to cultural heritage and conservation such as Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Indian Council of Conservation Institute (ICCI) and the National Research Laboratory for the Conservation of Cultural Property (NRLC). He was the director general of INTACH Indian Conservation Institute and director general of ICCI and NRLC. The Government of India honoured him in 2011, with the award of Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award for his contributions to the area of conservation.
Sanskriti Museum & Art Gallery, Hazaribagh was founded by Bulu Imam in 1991, after he discovered the first rockart of Hazaribagh district at Isco, subsequently bringing to light over dozen meso-chalcolithic rockarts, including the prehistoric archaeology of the North Karanpura Valley in Jharkhand.
S. K. Misra is a retired Indian civil servant, social worker, writer and a former Principal Secretary to Chandra Sekhar, the 8th Prime Minister of India. He served as the principal secretary to three chief ministers of Haryana and is a former secretary at the ministries of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Agriculture. He is one of the founders of Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai and the founder chairman of Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 2009, for his contributions to Indian civil service.
Bhuri Bai is an Indian Bhil artist. She was born in Pitol village, situated on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Pitol is a village of Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh. Bhuri Bai belongs to the community of Bhils, the largest tribal group of India. She has won many awards including the highest state honour accorded to artists by the Madhya Pradesh government, the Shikhar Samman. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award the Padma Shri in 2021.
Sohrai and Khovar are aboriginal methods of wall painting or mural prevalent in the eastern part of India, particularly in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. The art is related to the festival of Sohrai which is celebrated during the autumn months after the Hindu festival of Diwali. Khovar painting specifically relates marriage rituals among the tribes in the region. It is celebrated after the monsoon season and at the start of the paddy harvest season.
The Tribal Women Artists Cooperative (TWAC) was initially founded by Bulu Imam in 1993 out of a Tribal Art Project funded by the Australian High Commission, New Delhi. The cooperative continues to be directed by Bulu Imam, Padma Shri awardee (2019) as a social worker for promoting the ritual Khovar and Sohrai mural painting tradition, benefiting thousands of village women, and has gained international recognition through several exhibitions in major art galleries around the world.
