Ajarakh

Aayubbhai -4th Generation in Ajarakh handblock printing

Ajrrakh - A 4000-years-old ageless art of Block-Printing

Ajarakh is derived from the word azurakh, meaning blue in Persian. The blue in the patterns symbolize the sky, the red the twilight and the night is represented by black. The white designs strewn across the fabric are reminiscent of the eternal light of the stars.

Ajarakh block printing roots extended to the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat in India during the times of the Indus Valley Civilization, around 4000 BC. This age-old printing art can be done by only using natural dyes which limited the color palette to shades of red, blue, grey, green, yellow, and black. Where Indigo used for blue and grey, pomegranate peel for yellow, indigo dyed fabric over-dyed with pomegranate peel for green, madder root for red, fermented iron fillings for black and mordants like alum and harde. It takes skill & patience to make Ajarakh. There are between 14-16 different stages of dyeing & printing, which take 14-21 days to complete.

 

When we talk about terms “sustainability” and “eco-friendly” being the latest trend, many crafts existed since and one of them is “Ajarakh” because of its unique method that can only be done by hand and typically has some very minor but, beautiful irregularities.