Hand Block Printing in Bagru

Bagru is famous for its block printing and natural dyes. Bagru printing is more popular for its brilliant Eco-friendly feature. Hand block printing in Bagru, Jaipur and other places has always attracted people towards its naturalness and simplicity.

Bagru is the native place of people who belong to the Chippa community. These people are involved in the tradition of printing for hundred years. It is a small village which is located nearby Jaipur. It is situated at a distance of thirty kilometers from Jaipur. This village is majorly famous for its wooden hand block printing unlike other places of Rajasthan which are famous for forts or palaces

Hand block printing in Bagru has made the village a known name in the printing market. Bagru prints are different from other prints as it involves unusual kind of printing. This special method of printing uses wooden blocks for printing. The required design is carved on the wooden block and then printing is done by using the wooden block. Different and good quality of hardwoods is used for preparing wooden block. The designs are then stamped on cloths using engraved wooden blocks.

There is an area in Bagru known as Chippa Mohalla where one can find people always engaged in doing printing-related works. The old tradition is still alive at that place. The conventional pattern is followed for Bagru printing. Clothes are smeared by the sand got from the banks of the river and then dipped into turmeric water. This hand block printing process is done to get the background of cream color. Then the cloth is stamped with lovely patterns using earthly shades of natural dyes.

Artisans in Bagru use customary vegetable dyes to do printing on clothes. For instance, the blue color is prepared using indigo, green is made by mixing indigo with pomegranate, red color from the root of madder, and yellow color is taken from turmeric. Bagru printing generally has floral designs and natural colors are used.

Bagru and its prints form the indispensable branch of the industry of block printing in Rajasthan. The designs and prints of Bagru have been placed on the International platform. Its prints are known worldwide as a fashion trend. The hand block printing in Bagru is a delight for those who love crafts and want to explore more of them.

Bagru printing designs are extremely used in modern as well as traditional clothing. In old times, the printing of Bagru was commonly used for skirts known as ghagras, scarves called odhnis, and turbans called pagris. In today’s era, the block-printed products of this place have stepped into accessories, clothing, and home furnishings.

During starting days of hand block printing in India, the printers used to sit on the floor and worked on short heighten tables but now they work while standing for the whole time as the workload is high. Hand block printing is done on various types of cloth material now a day. This tremendous change in traditional craft has given rise to the export market of hand block printing.

The trends in the market of fashion keep on changing so it is necessary to adapt according to needs. This requirement is understood by artisans of hand block printing in bagru, Jaipur and this had led to their rise in the fashion market.