The many textiles of Rajasthan, part 1...

Rajasthan has vast variety of world famous textile products. Bedsheets, Quilts, Kurtis, Dress materials, and many more. Promoted by the royals in the early 18^th century the textile industry has grown and evolved a lot with craftsmen and artisans immigrating to the area over the centuries. Apart from Sanganer, Jaipur several other areas, mainly close to water sources developed their own printing techniques. Bagru, Akola, Jodhpur, Barmer are other important areas of textile printing in Rajasthan.

Sanganer Print

Sanganer, a village near Jaipur is very famous for its hand carved blocks and prints. Two main printing techniques are used in Sanganer Print, Screen Printing where craftsmen slide screens of designs over the fabric a number of times depending on the design and colours. Block print, where hand-made blocks of intricate designs are dipped in ink and pressed over the fabric manually to create a range of beautiful designs.

Sanganer prints are mainly created on white or light colour base with colourful designs inside. Many designs and motifs are used but there are a few dominating designs, like Mughal patterns  where the border is filled with ‘bel’ or network of flowers and leaves, and big floral prints on the fabric. Animal prints are also another popular pattern sometimes depicting scenes of battles, or castles etc. Other designs used are mainly ‘boota’, leaves depicting ‘kairi’, pan etc.