Ajrakh Cotton

Ajrakh is a resist printing tradition carried by the Khatri printers of Kutch, where a length of cloth passes through as many as sixteen stages of printing, washing and dyeing before it is finished. The pattern is laid on with hand carved teak blocks and a paste of lime and gum, then dyed in madder root, fermented indigo and iron black, and washed clean between every round, which is why the colours sit deep in the cloth rather than on top of it. Printed on fine cotton the result is cool and light for daily wear, and here the printed body is finished with a woven gold zari border in the South Indian manner, so one saree carries Kutch geometry alongside temple town gold.

Woven in

Ajrakhpur, Bhuj, Kutch, Gujarat

Signature

Natural dye Ajrakh resist printing on fine cotton, finished with a woven gold zari border