Block Printing on textiles (Sanganer)

Very close to Jaipur is Sanganer now famed for the city’s airport it is also the center for block and screen-printed cotton clothe. They are available in very colorful folk designs and some very soft and soothing cloth mainly used for bed linen, table covers, curtains or home furnishing. Neighboring Bagru is also famed for textile designs but printers in Bagru use vegetable color and use more floral designs While Barmer from western Rajasthan produces prints that are known for their bold geometric patterns, called 'AJRAKH'. Barmer an area in the middle of the Thar Desert is known for darker shades because people in the desert believed that dark shades are cooler as they absorb sunrays. From the other desert city, Jaisalmer, come some of the oldest designs; the specialty is the wax resistant art printing, a technique that creates some most unusual shades. The print on a Jaisalmer wedding dress is a spectacular one, with a design of squares in red, pink and black. Pichhwai from the temple town of Nathdwara near Udaipur and muslin prints from Kota are some very fine examples of textile prints from Rajasthan also.