PRESENTATION ON BAGRU PRINT OF RAJASTHAN

PRESENTATION ON
BAGRU PRINT
OF RAJASTHAN

1. PRESENTATION ON BAGRU PRINT OF RAJSTHAN

2. BAGRU Location of B agru Bagru , a small town in Rajasthan . Located at a distance of approximately 32 Kms from Jaipur . BAGRU is a centuries old centre for hand block printed textiles. T he patterned motifs and colours of the Bagru hand block prints occupy a prominent position on the textile map of India

3. In the past, textiles hand printed by the chippas of Bagru were used to produce fadats , lugdis , angochas , rezais for the local population Bagru is the place of Chhipa community people who are involved in this printing tradition since 100 years ago.

4. Bagru B agru is derived from the word’Bagora’the name of an island in a lake This art is said to have started around 450 years back . The village had a community of CHHIPAS, or traditional crafts people who printed fabrics by hand . Bagru chhipas came from Sawai Madhopur , Alwar , Jhunjhuna , and Sikkar districts of Rajasthan to settle in Bagru and make it their home outset around 450 years ago .

5. Until about fifty years ago, Bagru prints were still used mostly for ghagras (skirts) and odhnis (scarves) for women in surrounding communities, and csolely soled in local market . Printed lengths of rough cotton about 50 cms wide were typically sewn color , different prints served as identifying emblems for various Hindu castes. In this highly stratified culture, leather workers, for example could wear the same floral prints as blacksmiths, but the base color of dark green or red distinguished the two groups. These lengths of uncut material were made only by the Chhipas and were worn only by Hindus.

6. CLOURS Block printing has become popular because of the simple process which can create such sensational prints in rich and vibrant colours – originally from natural dyes though today chemical and artificial colours are being used. The main colours used are red, yellow, blue and saffron.

7. Red color for love. Yellow is color of spring. Blue color depict the lord Krishna. Saffron for yogi

8. Colors used in Bagru Hand Block Printing Bagru prints are done on off-white, ivory white or beige background. These three main colors are extracted from naturally occurring sources: black is derived from worn-out iron horse or camel shoes soaked in water, R ed comes from gum paste and phitkari , and maroon is a result of mixing the above two colors .

9. Colors used in motif

10. Prepration of indigo color Collect the leave

11. Crushed and boiled with water

12. Fillter it

13. Dried in sun light

14. Motif and designees The Syahi-Begar prints are a combination of black and yellow ochre or cream. Bagru prints are characterized by circular designs, as well as linear and floral patterns. In building up patterns, geometrical forms were adopted along with floral, animal and bird forms. Everything seemed to be inspired from local sources..

15. Traditional Designs The patterns or designs/motifs which are traditionally made in Rajasthan can be classified as- Boota Bootie Jal

16. Boota :- ‘ Boota ’ is normally referred to as design which is single and complete in itself. The word ‘ boota ’ is derived from the Persian word ‘ Butteh ’ which means complete tree. ‘ Bootas ’ depict the flora and fauna of the region and sometimes birds are also seen. Since it is a single unit the spacing between the two impressions can be varied normally a ‘ boota ’ is not bigger than 3”x5”.

17. Booti :- ‘ Booti ’ is a smaller form of ‘ boota ’ and the spacing between one ‘ booti ’ and another is predetermined. There could be up to 20 booties on one block depending on the size and space, Like ‘ boota ’ most of the ‘booties’ depict the flora and fauna and birds of the area. Sometimes the geometric forms like dots, circles, squares and lines are also used. Sanganeri ‘booties’ are classic, decorative delicate, which were basically used for royal families of Jaipur for clothing, whereas booties from Bagru are slightly folk.

18. Jaal : - ‘ Jaal ’ is pattern, which gives continuous interconnection surface. ‘Patterns which are floral, paisley (‘ keri ’) and geometric. Narrow borders of 2”-4” width are also used in all the centers . The designs are similar to ‘booties’ in form and decoration

19. Traditional Printing process of Bagru : 1. Scouring- locally called ‘ Hari Sarana ’ The fabric that comes from mills of handloom sector contains natural and added impurities such as starch, oil and dust. To get goods and even penetration of colours, the fabric is boiled with soap and desizing agents. Traditionally cow dung was used for scouring. Cow dung contains a lot of alkali, Cow dung and water are mixed together and the cloth (running cloth ‘ than’cut in required length) is then left dipped in that paste overnight.

20. The next day, the clothes are washed and spread &the clothes dry completely. This process of sprinkling water and drying is repeated 5-6 times a day. This procedure is carried out unit the cloth becomes white and bright. Generally, as per requirement, this process in done for 3 to 6 days.

21. 2.Tannin- locally called ‘ Peela Karana ’ ‘ Harda’Washed fabric is treated with myrobalan ( harda ) which contains tannic acid. Tannic acid attracts the mordants , which are applied with hand woodblock. ‘ Harda ’ powder is mixed with water, and the cloth is submerged in it, squeezed and dried flat on the ground.

22. Once the fabric is dried, it is folded and beaten with a wooden mallet to remove excess ‘ harda ’ powder and open up the fiber to accept the dye. This process in known as ‘ peela karna ’. The tannic acid of myrobalam ( harda ) forms black colour with ferrous ( syahee )which is traditionally made by reaction of old rusted horse shoe nails with jaggery

23. 3.Printing ( mordanting )- locally called ‘ chapai ’ The fabric is printed with two mordant- ferrous (‘ syahee ’) made out of rusted horse shoe nails, and alum (‘ begar ’). Usually ferrous is printed with the outline block (‘ rekh ’). As it immediately shows a black impression, it is easy for another printer to place the filler block (‘ datta ’) with beggar or alum. The background block ( Gudh ’) comes later.

24. 4.Ageing-locally called ‘ Sukhai ’ The printed fabric is left hanging at the printing areas for at least three-four days so that the prints(mordant paste) penetrates into the fiber structure. Longer the ageing better is the result.

25. . Washing- locally called ‘ Dhulai ’ The printed fabric is washed in running water. It is important to understand the need of running/flowing water. While washing the printed fabric in running water the excess mordants come out and get washed away with the flow of water without getting stuck back to the cloth. Water shortage has forced the printers to cut short this process due to which, the colors do not get fixed up properly and later “bleed” and people think that natural dyes are not fast.

26. 6.Dyeing (fixing of color ) – locally called ‘ Ghan Rangai ’ Dyeing is a process in which the dye reacts with two mordants at two different locations on the same print giving two different shades of colors . As mentioned earlier ‘alizarin’ is used as the dye throughout Rajasthan. The colours obtained in conjunction with the two mordants are red (with alum) and block (with ferrous). Dyeing is carried out in large copper vessels (‘ tambri ’) which are heated by wood fire.

27. Alizarin is filled in small cloth-bags ( ‘ potali ’) and dipped in the vessel. The quantity of alizarin dye is calculated by the experienced dyer. ‘ Dhawadi phool ’, a local flower is boiled along with alizarin to avoid patches and staining. Once the dyed fabric is ready (usually it takes half-an-hour), it is taken out of the copper vessel and left on the ground for drying

28. . Sun-bleaching- locally called ‘ Tapai ’ Alizarin often”over dyes” the unprinted area giving an off-white or yellow tinge all over the fabric which makes the print look dull. In order to make the ground look ‘white’ again the fabric is sun-bleached. In this process the fabric is laid flat on a river bed, a mild solution of cow dung and water is sprinkled over the fabric. This process is repeated again when the fabric is dried. The interaction of alkali (of cow dung) and thermal heat (sun ray) bleach the ground color making it look white again.

29. . Sometimes this process in carried out before the tannin (‘ harda ’) treatment but due to shortage of water this process is cut short and these days the ‘off- white’ color of the background has become a part of natural dyeing process

30. Block making

31. The main tools of the printer are wooden blocks in different shapes and sizes. Blocks are made of seasoned teak wood by trained craftsmen. The underside of the block has the design etched on it. Each block has a wooden handle and two to three cylindrical holes drilled into the block for free air passage and also to allow release of excess printing paste. WOODEN BLOCK TOOL

32. The new blocks are soaked in oil for 10-15 days to soften the grains in the timber. The printing table is long and rectangular over which 24 layers of jute are stretched taut and fixed to the table covering the entire upper surface. This padding offers resilience. The fabric to be printed is pinned over the table and printed block by block, creating beautiful designs.

33. Block Making The craft of block making came to Rajasthan along with printers from Sind-Punjab. The basic carving tools are made by block makers themselves form iron rods, bicycle spokes etc . The ‘design” is first drawn on paper and stretched out on smooth surface of wood . The motif or design is then pierced through the needles so that the “impression” is transferred on the smooth surface of wood, later the unwanted areas are carved out .

34. Iron nails and woolen - felt are also used to improve the quality of impression. Wooden block can be classified in three types viz ‘ Rekh ’- the outline block, “ gudh ”- the background block, and “ Datta ’- the filling block. Rekh ’: The key outline block (from the Hindi word “ rekha ” which means line) defines the form of pattern. Normally rekh in considered the “key block” which gets printed first in order to give ‘clue’ to other block to fit in. In some cases rekh is split into two blocks in order to print two colours. This kind of block is known as ‘ chirai ’ (splitting) block

35. D ifference between Sanganeri and Bagru styles The main distinguishing feature between Sanganer and Bagru printing is that Sanganer print is usually done on a white ground, whereas Bagru prints are on an Indigo or a dyed background. Local water also has its effects. In Sanganer water, block comes out in its best dark shade, while at Bagru block comes with a reddish tinge. As water has always been abundant in Sanganer , the washing of cloth has formed the main basis of printing and dyeing there. In contrast at Bagru , where water in comparatively scarce, ‘ Dhabu ’ resist printing and indigo work is mostly done.

36. Difference in motifs Traditionally, motifs printed at Bagru are large with bold line, as compared to sanganer , where somber colours and fine lines, intricate detailing are practiced. Sanganeri motifs are naturalistically rendered, with motifs usually based on flowers i.e. iris, rose, poppy, marigold, sunflower, chrysanthemum etc. Bagru motifs are more geometric than the sanganeri motifs.

37. uses Bagru prints are immensely used in contemporary as well as conventional garments . Bagru prints were used mostly for ghagras (skirts), odhnis (scarves) and pagris (turbans). The printed lengths of rough cotton about 50 cms wide were typically sewn together for long skirts. Today, the products made with Bagru block prints have entered into Home Furnishings, apparel and accessories.

38. s

39. Thank you