JOIN USSpeaking of traditional hand-printed sarees of Rajasthan, the first thing that comes to your mind is the exquisite hand-block printed textile of Jaisalmer that owes its existence to the traditional skills of the land. Rajasthan’s art and craft remains incomplete without the mention of hand-block printing, an age-old craft practised by the traditional craftsmen of the desert down the ages.
Looking back, the process of hand-block printing originated around 800 years ago. The printing technology traces its origin to the times of Rawal Jaisal, the founder of the city. It was the Bhati community of Rajputs, the weaver class of Jaisalmer, that began the art of hand-block printing, and Hari Singh Bhati was known as the foremost weaver of the community. Presently, around 600 weavers who belong to the Bhati community are involved in this art.
Hand-block printing is a form of resist printing that requires low temperature and can be processed only at night, when there is some nip in the air. Wax is used as a resist and the printing is done with blocks that have special raised surfaces. Once the blocks are dipped into wax, the deep grooves are soaked well into wax. Next, the wax is washed off in hot water or running tap water, and the applied substance diffuses well into the area. Vegetable dyes are used and the background colours are usually dark red, black or pink.
Hand-block printed silk sarees are available in plenty with motif-rich designs including floral patterns, leaves, and birds like peacocks and animals like elephants or camels. The borders are profusely done up with tiny motifs without any vacant spaces, while the base of these sarees have larger motifs. The weavers take around 15 days to work on a single block-printed silk saree, and try their best to bring in the flavour of the Rajput tradition.
Earlier, Maharaja Jowar Singh Rawal, the erstwhile ruler of Jaisalmer, was an ardent patron of hand-block printing art and it was Salam Singh, the prime minister to Maharaja Rawal Gaj Singh, who had endorsed the art of block printing. The present Rajmata of Jaisalmer, Mukat Rajya Lakshmi, is a great admirer of hand-block printed silk sarees.
If you are looking for the perfect gift, look no further. Hand-block printed sarees of Jaisalmer that come in cotton and silk are quite appealing. These colourful silk sarees make for perfect gifts. There are hand-block printed dress materials that would be the ideal choice of fashion-forward youngsters. The price of these hand-block printed silk sarees range from Rs 1,200 to Rs 7,200. The National Handloom Corporation outlet on Old Fort Road in Jaisalmer offers a good bet on hand-block printed materials where you do not have to loosen your purse strings to a great extent.