“The story goes as back as the times in
history when my father would walk me to the river side, where lengths of colorful patterns waved up and down, with the gushing flow of
Sabarmati. Things changed however, open banks were
replaced by concrete blocks, flowing river by inert marshes, printing floors by
long tables confined within four walls of the factories, washing got restricted to the water tanks, chemicals replaced
natural colorants, and now, wooden
blocks are fighting against much faster screen printing…” Master craftsman Faruk F. Chhiparecalls
the days when he used to learn from his father Fakruddin Chhipa, who
started ablock-printing unit in Ahmedabad, in 1964, under the name of ‘Fakira
prints’. Employing around seventy skilled block
printers, the unit can easily claim to be one of the biggest amongst 8-10 units
in the city.
The practice of block printing is about two
thousand years old. However, in India, printing and dyeing of cottons developed
in Rajasthan, in the medieval age. Gujarat became popular for the use
of wooden blocks for printing. Tents were created from printed
fabrics and became a necessary part of royal processions. The seasons largely influenced the integration of the
highly creative processes of weaving, spinning, dyeing and printing. Surat
in Gujarat became one of the prime trading centers.
Hailing from the land of Maharajas,
block-prints with their universally appealing degree of intricacy, competed
their way to the weekly ‘haats’ and ‘melas’. Saudagars (the traders) from all over would come and
sell their works to thelandlords, Maharajas and their ladies. These very
intricate and exuberant prints, typically made to adorn their turbans and chunris came
to be known asSaudagari prints. Although a rarity now, some Saudagari blocks, preserved
by the traditional craftsmen can be seen in the museums today.
However, with changing times and with the
onset of cities, block prints got popular by their place of origin i.e the
villages (gaam in hindi) of India, to be called as the‘Gaamthi’ prints.…vibrant
colors, contrasting prints, varied patterns being their characteristic
features. Originally, natural dyes were
used, but today they have been replaced by chemical and artificial colors. The main colors used were, green from
hinna, yellow the color of spring from turmeric, blue as in Krishna from
indigo and black from rusting iron, near about 27 different colors could
be achieved through plant parts and metals.
Judged by their level of perfection in
detail, Pethapur has always been the centre for supremely intricate
and accurate blocks, while the fabric is still traded from Bhimandi
(Maharashtra) and Thirupur. Even though the motifs, the colors and the level of
intricacy keeps changing with time and tastes of people, there are some unique blocks, which have retained their popularity
over past 100 years.
Made of seasoned teak wood, blocks are the main tools of the printer. With designs etched on the underside and two to three
cylindrical holes drilled vertically and horizontally across the body of the
block, the block makers of Pethapur ensure free air passage and
release of excess printing paste,
making their blocks so special.
To begin the process, grey fabric
(off-white, starched) is bleached to get the white, which is then given any
color of choice using chemical dye. Printing on top with chemical colors is a
tricky process, as it takes time for the colorants to react with the air, to
give the actual color of the patterns. Complex
patterns may need printing with 3-4 blocks, to achieve the final results. The fabric is then washed
and sun dried.