Bagru Print Textile is a traditional block printing art form from Bagru Town of Rajasthan. The colorful state of Rajasthan is known for its rich heritage, vibrant lifestyle, and beautiful art forms. The garment industry in this region is especially popular for its innovative printing techniques.
Indians were among the pioneers in the art of dyeing and printing with fast (natural) colour in the world. Dyeing with indigo was more of a mystery to many foreign travelers to India because they could observe no colour when fabric is dipped in indigo bath – colours develop during exposure in open air. Each cluster follows its distinctive style & methods, uses locally available natural materials and motifs of some specialty. ‘Bagru’ print is that kind of centuries old traditional art of hand block printing still alive.
Origin
Under the bright desert sun of northwest India, small things sometimes cast long shadows. Take the town of Bagru, for example. Just a short drive from Jaipur on the highway to Ajmer, this Rajasthani village has developed a immense influence on the art of Indian block printing.
For at least 400 years, Bagru has been home to the Chhipa — a clan whose name comes either from a Gujarati word meaning “to print” or from combining two Nepali language words: ‘chhi’ (“to dye”) and ‘pa’ (“to leave something to bask in sun”). The latter theory feels especially true as you walk through the vast communal drying fields that connect the Chhipa Mohalla —the village printer’s quarters. The air here is redolent with the fragrance of drying fabric; The ground and the concrete walls are covered in resplendent oranges, blues, and pinks.
Everywhere you turn in Bagru, it seems, is a scene that will stop you in your tracks.
History
There is no authentic record for reference on backdating Bagru’s block printing practices and there prevail different opinions behind its starting. However, it is estimated that this art form was introduced 450 years back when a community of Chhipas (literally meaning people who stamp or print) came to Bagru from Sawai Madhopur (Alwar) and settled in Bagru. Even today, their community works together in a place called Chhippa Mohalla (Printer’s Quarters) by the Sanjaria riverside. It is perhaps the river name that lends its name to Sanganeri printing art form. The Chippas community settled along the riverside, like any other nomadic settlement. The bank of the river provided them with clay which is an important ingredient in getting the base color of the famed ‘Bagru’ prints. The artisans smear the cloth with Fuller’s earth got from the riverside and then dip it in turmeric water to get the beige-colored background.
After that, they stamp the cloth with beautiful designs using natural dyes of earthly shades.
According to the opinion of other groups, the tale unfolds more than 400 years ago when the Thakur on the lease of the village decided to develop Bagru as a center for block printing and brought two families of printers from Isarda, a village near Jaipur. The printers locally known as ‘Chippa’ came from loyal patronage. The presence of abundant water in the overflowing ‘Sanjaria’ river and its clean sunny river bed led to the settlement of the Chippas. Today though the river runs dry these artisans thrive in Bagru practicing their same methods of the past thus ensuring survival of the traditional art.
Characteristics
The natural environment is, in the end, what makes Bagru block printing so identifiable. The weather. The water. The wind and the dust. The wood in the blocks and the plants in the dyes.
People of Bagru and its natural water source are highly responsible to limit the flow of this art. Water is an important factor in the printing industry. Every place has a unique natural water source and taste. This taste or composition of water helps people in developing colors and finishing the products.
The same goes with Bagru Town, One can only find the Bagru Print Goods well developed at Bagru Village only. Is it hard to produce exact color formation anywhere in the world? Yes, it is quite unfortunate, but true. We are not able to produce the Bagru Print textures and colors outside the village for unknown water composition errors.
The seasons which drive production here are natural, not industrial: During the hot and dry months, workers fill the courtyards with fabrics — until monsoon season brings work to a halt.
Process
The intrinsic process has made block printing one of the slowest textile printing processes in the world. Let’s go through the process step by step.
SOAKING OVERNIGHT (Hari Sarana ,scouring ) :
First, the fabric is soaked for 1-2 days. It helps to remove the stains, oil, dust, and starch which was a part of attires. This process is famous as ‘Hari Sarana’(scouring). Traditionally cow dung was used for this processing, but nowadays soap has replaced cow dung.
HARDA DYEING (‘Peela Karana’ Tannin):
When the fabric is completely contaminated-free, it is treated with ‘harda’ solution which has tannic acid in it. This process involves the use of natural mordants like Harda and Alum to capture the natural colors that print on the fabric using our pattern blocks.
Harda is a natural ingredient that is extracted from Myrobalan fruit and has been used in Ayurvedic medicines for its digestive healing properties. It gives a yellowish-cream color to the fabric and also tannic acid of harda gives black color with ferrous. This is called ‘Peela Karana’( Tannin).
After Harda dyeing, the fabric needs to lay flat and dry in the sunlight. The fabric will have a yellowish tint after this stage, which will later disappear once washed.
WOODBLOCK CARVING
Generally, a printer first stamps the background block (called a gudh), followed by an outline block (the rekh). The datta are the filler blocks that complete the design.
On average, a printer will need at least 4 or 5 blocks to create a hand-printed cloth. It can take one or two days to carve and prepare a single block as the selection and seasoning of local woods is an involved process and specific to each pattern design.
In Bagru, carvers often use woods like Sagwaan (Teak), Sheesham (Indian Rosewood), or Rohida (sometimes called ‘Desert Teak’ or ‘Marwar Teak’) when constructing blocks. Sagwaan is choice of preference when durability and softness matters while, conversely, the relative hardness of Sheesham is for intricate or detailed motifs.
Once the block’s design has been sketched on paper and the block has been cut to size, the pattern is drawn directly on the wood. The carver then uses drills, chisels, hammers, nails, and files to recreate the pattern on the block.
BlOCK PRINTING (Chapai):
For regular hand block printing, a printer first dips the wooden printing block in the dye tray before pounding the center of the block onto the fabric with his or her fist. Artisans repeated the patterns, aligning the blocks by eye.
Traditional Bagru prints use dark (or colored) patterns on cream or dyed backgrounds. Another style, called dabu, creates light-colored motifs on a dark background using mud-resist printing.
Color is one way to differentiate Bagru prints from those made in nearby Sanganer: In Bagru, the cloth has either a cream-colored or a dyed base, while Sanganeri prints have a white base.
Adapting these motifs to contemporary fashion requires added precision: The abundance of empty spaces in modern patterns tends to reveal the unintentional dye drips which often go unnoticed in busier, traditional designs.
Dyeing
Blues are made from Indigofera tinctoria, stored in dye vats 10 to 12 feet deep. Artisans created different hues of red colors (begar) by mixing varying proportions of alum (fitkari), madder (lal mitti) and acacia arabica (also called babul gond). Alum is used for greys and syahi (fermented waste iron, jaggery, and water) for blacks. Though most colors used in the Bagru process are natural, the Chhipa occasionally boosts them with non-toxic chemical dyes to create brighter colors.
DRYING (Sukhai):
After completion of printing, they dry the fabric (printed texture) for 3-4 days in order to get colors to penetrate into the fabric. Old veterans of this art called it as sukhai(aging).
Washing(Dhulai) :
After sukhai(ageing), it’s time for dhulai(washing). They wash the fabric in running water so that extra color should come out and does not stick to the cloth.
BOILING (Ghan Ranghai):
After dhulai, it is time for boiling the fabric in a large copper pot with water, alizarin(dye), and dhawadi flowers. That means Ghan Ranghai (fixing of color).
SUN BLEACHING (Tapai):
Next process is tapai (sun bleaching). This means the fabric must wash to remove excess dust and dirt and keep in the sunlight for drying.
Now Bagru fabric is ready to use.
In recent decades, the demand for Bagru Printed Textile Products has raised too many folds. People across India and the world are now soothing their wardrobes and interiors with these products. From Garments to Bedcovers – Now everyone loves the taste of good Hand Block Print Bagru Products.
Difference Between Bagru And Sanganer Prints
Two of the most common printing styles in Rajasthan are the Bagru and Sanganer printing. While both styles of printing originate from Rajput, the princely state in Rajasthan, the specific local regions lend their own unique touch to each style. We can differentiate them with three main points:
Use of Water
You might be surprised to know that water has a significant impact on the results produced by both printing techniques. For instance, the use of water in Sanganeri prints causes darker tone effects to appear on the fabric. In contrast to this, water brings out a reddish tone in the block prints in Bagru printing.
There is a regional history behind why water use was different in both styles of printing. Bagru opted for indigo and Dabu resisted work due to a scarcity of water. In Sanganer, water was available in large amounts for both washing and printing.
Motifs
There is also a difference in the types of motifs. The traditional Bagru motifs are larger in size and have bold lines. In Sanganer motifs, finer lines and more sober colors is the characteristic. Sanganer motifs are popular for their intricate detailing. Some common flower prints used in Sanganer block printing are roses, lotuses, sunflowers, lilies, marigolds, rosettes, and lotus buds. Also, while Bagru motifs are usually geometric such as leher (waves), chaupad (checks), and kangura (triangles), and jaali — a gridded trellis pattern with hints of floral and other natural patterns.
Background
Lastly, the backgrounds for printing. An off-white or white background is preference in sanganeri printing while , a bluish or indigo background is the printing base for Bagru prints.
Sanganer block prints
The local Rajasthani artists use both chemical and vegetable dyes to create beautiful Sanganeri prints. They typically employ a technique called ‘calico printing’ for Sanganeri block prints. This involves printing the outlines followed by the filling in of colors. Local craftsmen then repeat these designs in diagonal sections.
References
- Bagru Textiles (thekindcraft.com)
- Bagru Printing | Block Printing in Traditional Printing Technique – Cocoonkapas.com
- Difference Between Bagru and Sanganer Prints (faridagupta.com)
- ‘Bagru’ – A Traditional Printing Technique of Rajasthan | | Luggra
- Bagru Print Textile – Art of Hand Block Print by Srishti Textile
