Ajrakh is a word that has its origins in the Arabic language and comes from “azrak”, meaning ‘blue’.
This craft of Ajrakh printing is the livelihood of the semi-nomadic, pastoral tribes of the region and came into existence around 40 years ago. The process of printing is done by using wooden blocks.
This intricate and exclusively handcrafted block-printing technique came to Kutch from Sindh some 400 years ago at the behest of the King of Kutch, who invited craftsmen from Khatri community to come and practice their art on the banks of Dhamadka river.
Traditionally Ajrakh printing is a celebration of what Nature provides through raw materials and resources and symbolized through colors and motifs. The colors of red from extracts of madder plant and the blue from that of the indigo plant are mostly the colors used in the prints on fabrics. Motifs generally found are geometric jewel like shapes that contain the stars and flowers that nature provides.
In Ajrakh, they use complex geometric patterns and the patterns are inspired from the architectural forms of Islamic architecture’s complicated jali widows. The Ajrakh coloring is fast and it is carried out in fourteen to sixteen steps of making process that includes washing, dyeing, printing and drying that requires a high level of skilled and experienced person to keep colors fast and even. Natural ingredients are used to get the dyes. Thus, by keeping the eco-friendly dyes it will increase the sustainability of the craft and the ecology.
