Hand Block – Printing/ Ajrakh of Jaipur, Rajasthan

In Rajasthan, there are sandy stretches of desert where a unique method of cloth-dyeing prevails. Practitioners of this craft are also found in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The technique is called Ajrakh and the print is in dark shades of blue and red with geometrical patterns on both sides of the fabric. The technique is a complicated one and the steps include preparatory washing, application of mordant, resist printing, de-gumming, and dyeing. The resist substances used are gach (a mud resist) and kariyana, which is a mixture of the gum of the babul tree and chuna or lime. The lime provides a smooth texture and prevents the resist from cracking.
After the final dyeing the cloth is sun-dried. It is dipped every night in a cow-dung solution and kept under a stone all night. Washing is done the next morning in the river and the drying is done on the sand. When half-dry, water is sprinkled on the cloth continuously. On the third day, the cloth is finally washed in the river, brought to the work-place and dried.