Textile Printing/ Design

Bagh, which lends its name to the Bagh prints is a small tribal town in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. The khatri community, who comprise the 'chhipas' or printers came here about 400 years ago from Larkana is Sind which is famous for its Ajrak prints. Bagh's proximity to the river was an important reason for its choice as flowing river water is vital to the process of printing. The design repertoire of Bagh prints covers geometrical and floral compositions and the blocks used for stamping are intricately and deeply carved by block-makers in Pethapur in Gujarat.

Tarapur and Umedpura are the main centres where as Bhairongarh is a smaller centre. Pillya is a woman's upper garment made in the bandani style and is a specialty of Jawad. Another specialty of Jawad is the parandas or the colourful long hair strings.

Procedure of coloring is the same as of other states. The popular motifs include the dana pattern that is created by chains of grain on the body of the fabric with detailed designs on the borders and pallu. squares dots, flower dots, birds and flowers are the common and popular motifs.

The practitioners of this craft in Maharashtra are mainly migrants from other parts of India. The painting is done with delicately carved wooden and brass blocks. The cloth on which hand-printing is done is either hand-woven silk or mill-made chiffon cloth. The results are multi-colour designs in traditional patterns. The 'Tree of Life' motif is very widely used.

The Resist Process called Dabu is used here involves using wax or gum clay mixed with resin. With the help of brush or block or by hand this is applied to the portions of the cloth. The color is then applied to it. The wax is then washed off in hot or flowing water and the applied colour moves into this area to give a diffused effect. This process is some what similar to the batik procees. Now Block printing is done on the portion of the cloth where the original colour is retained. The fabric is highlighted by printing Specific outlines and patterns against the contrast colour.

Villages of Jahota in Jaipur are famous for the jahota hand block printing. It is believed that Maharaja Jai Singh and his wife uplifted this art amongst the local artists. They both took interest amongst the art and the people involved in this field.

The traditional block-printing running in parallel lines technique of Ajrakh has attained a peak of excellence at Balotra. Although a desert climate but good water is one of the main reasons which imparts good colors which is so important for hand-block printing. The speciality of the block printing of Balotra is that it is done on both sides of the cloth. This is very diffult technique because there should not be any imbalance in the design-transfer from the block to the cloth. The reverse side hand block printing is done simultenously even when the other side of the design print is wet.