Tents were created from printed fabrics and became a necessary part of royal processions. The seasons greatly affects the integration of highly creative processes of weaving, spinning, dyeing and printing. Festivals also dictated this activity.
Trade in cotton cloth is said to have existed between India and Babylon from Buddha's time. Printed and woven cloths traveled to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Far East.
In the 17th century, Surat was established as an important center for export of painted and printed calico covering a wide range of quality. Cheaper printed cloth came from Ahmedabad and other centers, and strangely enough Sanganer has not been such a famous center for printing as it is today. Draperies, awnings and differences in soil have been created from printed cotton and painted mainly in western India to the European market.
Thirty-two kilometers east of Jaipur City is a small village called Bagru, where the buzz is still in use today, block printed textiles by hand using traditional blocks of geometric patterns and rich natural colors. There's always been some confusion in Sanganer and Bagru prints, which are similar, although in reality each has specific characteristics. Sanganer prints originally printed on white or off-white, while the Bagru prints are mainly of two colors - red and black. Sometimes the fabric is dyed in different colors and are available in printed fabric. In general, green, black and red are used.
Natural colors like blonde, indigo, pomegranate peel and turmeric have been replaced by alizarin dyestuffs and synthetic, which are less difficult to prepare.
Ajrakh prints, popular even today originated in Gujarat involving a resist print, mainly for garments for men.
It is possible that when the search was in the laboratories of the alchemical elixir of life to free the body and mind from the pressures of life and aging, researchers have stumbled on medicinal plants such as Bold, myrobalan. Products were probably very valuable in the process of dyeing and bleaching, and even to this day many plants used in dyeing processes are archaic listed and described in the texts of Ayurvedic medicine.
In India, each vessel was raised to the influence of religious traditions. The most beautiful creations of the artisans were prepared for the rituals and the brightest of dyers, painters, weavers gathered around the main centers of religious worship. India has always been sensitive to colors that formed the basis of poetic inspiration, music, additional charges with the subtle nuances of mood. Red is the color of love, and the madder he could not quickly be washed away.
Yellow is the color of spring, filled with flowers and mating cries of birds. Nila or indigo is the color of Krishna, which is like a rain cloud-filled. Gerwa or saffron, the color of the Yogi, the seer, who renounces the world.
The main tools of the printer are wooden blocks of different shapes and sizes called Bunta. The blocks are made of teak wood, even experienced gurjun (grown in the forests of a district in Rajasthan) is preferred because of its light weight. The blocks are made by skilled craftsmen in this art. The underside of the block is held flat, and the design engraved on it. Two or three cylindrical holes drilled through its thickness connects the upper part of the block to cut the bottom surface. The holes help release air bubbles and the printing paste in any sense. Each block has a wooden handle carved on top.
There are different centers of each block and region has its own specialty. Farrukhabad block makers are known for their artistic quality and complex designs, such as Pethapur, Gandia, 29 km from Ahmedabad. Pethapur is famous for some of the finer elements of printing in the country. Manufacturers of Benares block design of blocks according to the impression of silk, sometimes every design of blocks according to the impression of silk, sometimes every model has seven colors! It's amazing how the grounds can get interpreted differently at each center. Block designs larger and bolder and the delicacy of the design is toned down as you go south or even Calcutta. Andhra Pradesh is a major center today to block printing by hand. Kalahastri Machilipatnam and are the main focus of kalamkari, also organized the printing with vegetable inks. Hyderabad is home to Lepakshi prints, a fashion in India for 15 years.
Before the new blocks are used to feel that again soaked in oil from 10 to 15 days and that softens the grain of the wood. The wooden table printing is long and rectangular, usually about five feet long, 120 cm wide and 90 inches high. In our unit, we used tables to accommodate the length and width of a sari so the time was not wasted adjusting the material during printing. To provide resistance to print about 24 layers of jute are stretched, and fixed tables, covering the entire top surface. This filling is varied in response to your liking. During the heavy mattress is an issue before printing to present a smooth surface and absorb all the colors that could fall during the printing process. The mattress or Achada be changed and washed frequently so that the dyes do not pass to enter the new tissue.
Wooden trolleys with racks have wheels attached to their legs to facilitate free movement. The printer, it gathers as it works. On the plateaus above most conservation dyes are placed. On the lower shelves shots kept ready.
The substance to be printed is cleared of starch and soft bleached if the natural gray of the substance is not desired. If staining is required as in the case of saris, which limits or the body is tied and dyed, is made before printing. The fabric is stretched over the printing table and small pins (in the case of saris Pallu is printed first, then the limit).
