The following Indian products have received GI tags recently:

1. Thanjavur Netti Works (pith works)

   • It is made from a marshy plant called Aeschynomene Aspera, Netti (pith).
   • The Netti Works are widely found in Tamil Nadu in the Temple of Brihadeeshwara, Hindu Idols, Garlands, door hangings and decorative objects.

2. Tamil Nadu’s Arambavur Wood Carvings:

   • It is mainly made of wooden logs, Mango, Lingam tree, Indian Ash tree, Rosewood, Neem tree.
   • It is mainly used for creating sculptures.
   • The unique aspect of the craft is the entire design is carved out of a single block of wood.
   • A single error could damage the entire piece.

3. Manipur black rice:

   • Chak-Hao, fragrant glutinous rice that has been cultivated in Manipur for decades, is popularly known for its special aroma.
   • It is normally eaten during community feasts and is also served as Chakhao kheer.
   • Chak-Hao has also been used as part of traditional medicine by western medical practitioners.

4. Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting:

   • In the region of the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, it is a traditional and ritualistic mural art practiced by local tribal women during local harvest and marriage seasons using local, naturally accessible soils of various colors.
   • The style features a profusion, often depicting religious iconography, of lines, dots, animal figures, and plants.

5. Telangana’s Telia Rumal:

   • It includes complex handmade cotton loom work showing a range of patterns and motifs in three different colors, red, black, and white.
   • Telia Rumals were worn by princesses at the former court of the Nizam of Hyderabad as a veil, and by Arabs in the Middle East as a turban cloth.
   • It is only possible to manufacture Telia Rumal using the traditional handloom method and not by any other mechanical means, as otherwise the very quality of the Rumal will be lost.

6. Gorakhpur terracotta:

   • It is a centuries-old traditional art style, wherewith hand-applied ornamentation the potters create different animal figures such as horses, elephants, camel, donkey, ox, etc.
   • The entire work is done with bare hands and natural color is used by artisans.
   • The Hauda elephants, Mahawatdar horse, deer, camel, five-faced Ganesha, single-faced Ganesha, elephant table, chandeliers, hanging bells, etc. are some of the main products of craftsmanship.

7. Kashmir Saffron:

   • Saffron from Kashmir is grown and harvested in the Jammu and Kashmir Karewa (highlands).
   • Longer and thicker stigmas, natural deep red colour, high fragrance, bitter taste, chemical-free processing and high amounts of crocin (colouring strength), saffron (flavour) and picrocrocin (bitterness) are the specific features of Kashmir saffron.
   • It is the world’s only saffron grown at an altitude of between 1,600 m and 1,800 m AMSL (above mean sea level).
   • Iran is the largest producer of saffron and India is a close competitor.

8. Kadalai Mittai:

   • Kovilpatti kadalai mittai is a peanut candy held together with glistening syrup and topped with pink, green and yellow-colored wisps of grated coconut.
   • It is made using all natural ingredients such as traditional and unique ‘vellam’ (jaggery) and groundnuts and Thamirabarani river water, which naturally enhances the taste, is used in the processing.