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Rajasthani Ajrakh Saree Ajrakh block prints are originally from the Sind but have, for generations now, been printed in Rajasthan and Gujarat too. They were traditionally printed using indigo for the blue, and alizarine for the red. Both indigo and alizarine were historically extracted from plants of the indigofera and madder genera respectively although synthetic dyes of both are now available. In fact, in 1869, alizarine became the first natural pigment which was synthetically replicated. In India, Indigofera Tinctoria tends to be used to make the dye (when a natural pigment is used), and Ajrakh seems to have got its name from ‘ Azrak ’ which means ‘blue’ in Arabic. That said, there is also a tale (that sounds rather revisionist, it must be admitted) which says that Ajrakh derives its name from being set aside for a day after each stage in the printing process. Ajrakh may be either one- or two-sided ( ekpuri or bipuri ), and the process of creating it is rather long drawn ...

Bandhani tie-and-dye saree (Photo: Mandayamr ) The earliest visual evidence of Bandhani or tie-and-dye patterning in India comes from paintings in the Ajanta caves which date to the 6th and 7th centuries while the earliest textual reference seems to be in Bana’s Harshacharita detailing the life of the 7th century King Harsh. Today, Bandhani is predominantly associated with Gujarat and Rajasthan, although it is also seen in South Indian Sungudi sarees. Fabric is dyed after ‘knots’ have been tied on it in often circular patterns typically associated with Bandhani possibly with the help of fingernails, beads, or grains – the use of nails is far more common in Rajasthan than in Gujarat. The motifs are usually tied onto the cloth using a simple cotton thread with one thread being used for a number of ‘knots’ (each of which is basically a bit of fabric pinched and tied so that when the cloth is later dyed, the parts of the fabric ‘protected’ by the tied thread remain undyed, reveali...

Kota Doria Saree Kota sarees are not necessarily an abbreviated reference to Kota Doria sarees. The term ‘Kota’ often seems to be used, in common parlance, to indicate any fabric similar to Kota Doria fabric which is specifically from Rajasthan. The origins of Kota Doria are spectacularly unclear though. The fabric woven in the Kota area is believed to have once, centuries ago, been plain fine cotton although Kota Doria is now checked. Adding to the confusion, Kota sarees have also been called Masuria sarees in the recent past which, depending on what one is inclined to believe, refers to the texture of Masur dal, the silk used in Kota Doria having been sourced from Mysore, or, possibly, the weavers of Kota Doria themselves having migrated to Rajasthan from Mysore centuries ago. Whatever the origins of Kota Doria are, sarees made of the fabric are light and translucent with a checked pattern called ‘khat’, presumably, a reference to faveoli. The fabric is cotton, silk-cotton...