The Bagh Print!!

 

History of Bagh: 

The Bagh Print, an Indian handicraft produced in Bagh, Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, is a traditional hand-block print with natural colors. The city of Bagh on the banks of the Bagh River is the source of its name. A popular textile printing product is Bagh print fabric, which features reproduced geometric and floral designs with vegetable colors of red and black over a white backdrop.

After they migrated from Manawar to Bagh in 1962, the Muslim Khatri community in Madhya Pradesh began what is now known as Bagh Print. Their roots are found in Larkana, Sindh (now in Pakistan), from whence they moved to Marwad, Rajasthan, and Manawar. The printing method they used, which was common in Sind, is called Ajrak prints. It's still being determined when they left Sindh and moved over the Indus. 

As they settled in the village of the same name on the banks of the Bagh River, they brought with them their traditional block printing method, which they continued to practice at their new location while adding innovations to suit local customs and trends. This art form became known as Bagh printing. Cotton and silk fabrics are employed in this printing process, and they are treated with a mixture of alum, alizarin, and corroded iron fillings. Expert craftspeople create the patterns for the designs. When the printing process is finished, the printed fabric is repeatedly washed in the river's running waters and then sun-dried for a predetermined amount of time to get the desired level of luster.

Bagh Prints are a unique form of art created by the weaving and hand block printing process combined with geometric shapes, creative use of natural red and black colors, and use of the chemical qualities of the river. Pre-printing, printing, and post-printing are steps in the process.

Developing the colors

Red and black are the two main colors utilized in Bagh printing. The artisans create their own color combinations. As a mordant, alum is used to make red. Iron rust is made by fermenting iron with jaggery, which is how black is made. The color paste is made from the seeds of the tamarind plant. The classic Bagh color scheme consists of just red and black against the cloth's natural hue background.

Printing the designs

The cloth is ready to be printed using wooden hand blocks and ready-made colors once the artisans have finished their five steps of labor-intensive work, which involves more manual labor than talent. Black and white designs and layouts are more common than red and white ones; red, black, and white are the combination that is used most frequently. For a planned layout, blocks are chosen for borders, a bigger body surface and an end piece called a pallu in a sari. The amount of pressure used to register the block on the cloth spread out on the table after it has been dipped into the color tray will impact how intense the color is in the end result. The printed fabric is left for ten to twelve days to fully develop the colour intensity. 

The Vichaliya procedure

After the printed fabric has dried, it is carried to a river to undergo the vichaliya procedure, which involves washing it in pure water to remove any leftover dye. To remove extra color, the printed fabric is thrown about in the river's flowing water. In the process of washing, the fabric is also beaten on the rocks. This helps the fabric become more pliable and drains the extra color. The fabric is prepared for drying once the extra water has been squeezed off. 

Fixing the colour

The printed cloth is boiled in an alizarin and dhawda flower solution as the next step in the process. This stage aids in fixing the dyes and enhancing the red color. The cloth is submerged in this liquid for two to three hours, or until a crimson hue appears. The cloth is cooked in enormous haudis, or tankers, of the solution. The numerous washing phases might occur simultaneously in a set of tanks situated at varying levels. The mordant used in Bagh printing is alizarin. A sizable water tank is heated from below to raise the alizarin solution's temperature. The printed fabric in the tank is heated by the wood furnace. This phase of the procedure calls for both labor-intensive work and skill. 

The Final wash

After the printed cloth has been boiled in the alizarin solution, the last step in the printing process is washing it. After washing, the fabric is spread out on the riverbed's pebbled surface to dry. Thereafter, the final washing is performed on the printed fabric. The printed fabric is laid out to dry.

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