Situated 30 km southwest of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, is a small town called Bagru which is immensely popular for its traditional hand block printed sarees.
Bagru has been home to many skilled and experienced artisans and craft makers over decades and used to manufacture exclusive crafts as offerings in temples and other kings or emperors.
With the passage of time, this craft has retained its authenticity and has not been bogged down by the cheaper power loom products.
What are the History and Origin of Bagru Sarees?
The Chhipas Community
The Bagru style of printing is said to have started around 500 years back. The village of Bagru was home to a community of the Chhipas, who were the original craft makers, who printed fabric by hand. The Chippas came from many different parts of Rajasthan such as Sawai Madhopur, Jhunjhunu, Sikkar, Alawar.
The advent of the Bagru printing craft
With the advent of time, the process of making these sarees has changed a lot, in terms of the embroideries, motifs, the authentic Bagru print saree designs and the mechanism itself. This is highly due to the fact that the craft makers had to adapt to the changes over time and meet the demands and requirements of the buyers looking for Bagru Print sarees online nowadays, although it has had almost no impact on the integrity and originality of the craft.
What is Bagru style of printing?
It is a technique of printing on the fabric using natural colours.
The Motifs have some special significance are transferred onto a light coloured background, preferably on a blue or indigo background with wooden blocks.
There are primarily 5 different types of motifs that are used in Bagru hand block print sarees –
a) Flowers & Birds.
b) Tendrils.
c)Trellis or Jaal Designs,
d)Geometrical motifs and
e) Human or animal figurative motifs.
What is the process of making a Bagru Saree?
1) The initial step is called Hari Sarana. Plain cloth is chosen and removed of all impurities using a mixture of soda ash, cow dung and sesame oil mixture, then washed and dried.
2) The second step is called Harda. Harda is a seed obtained from myrobalan fruit, and it is mixed with water in a powdered form and is one of the most important elements during printing and dyeing. After the fabric is washed thoroughly with water, the harda gives the fabric a yellowish colour. That is, because of the tannic acid present in the harda seed that acts as scathing for the iron on the printed colour.
3) Depending on the colours and shapes of the print design of the fabric, the Chippas community decide how many blocks to use. Firstly, the background block is stamped followed by the outline block and then followed by the filler blocks that complete the design.
4) The design of the block is then sketched on a piece of paper and then the block is cut to size accordingly.
5) The pattern is then directly drawn onto the block of wood using hammers, chisels, nails and files.
6) Then starts the printing process in which the printer fist dips the wood in a dye before hammering the centre of the wooden block onto the fabric with their fist and then this process is again repeated.
7)After the sixth step, the fabric is laid out in the sunlight to dry.
What are the differences between Bagru and Sanganeri style of printing?
What is the Sanganeri style of printing?
The Sanganeri style of printing originated from a town called Sanganer in Jaipur, Rajasthan, and the business of Sanganeri printing started flourishing between the 16th and 17th century A.D owing to the East India Company exporting them to Europe in large quantities. The Sanganeri style of printing is generally done on a white or off-white background and is known for its intricate floral patterns such as roses, lotuses, lilies, sunflower, marigold and rosettes. In this style of printing, the dyeing is done using natural colours and thus gives it a pleasant odour.
Differences
The Sanganeri style of printing is similar to Bagru in many ways, but has a few distinctive differences such as:-
1) As mentioned above, Bagru printing is done on indigo or blue or a dyed background, whereas Sanganeri printing is usually done on a white or off-white background.
2) The motifs and designs printed on a Bagru saree are larger, having bolder lines, whereas Sanganeri printing is known for its fine lines and intricate design patterns and motifs.
3) The motifs present in Bagru printing are usually geometrical, whereas the motifs present in Sanganeri are based on nature.
4)In Bagru printing, Dabu resist works and indigo colour works are more prevalent due to the nature of the water source present in the town of Bagru. Hence, in Bagru printing we can see a red coloured shade in the block printed textiles.
But, in Sanganeri style of printing, the block printing results in dark coloured tinges, due to the nature of the water source there.
Bagru Sarees were traditionally just made from cotton, but owing to the high demand and requirement of these sarees, they are now available in a variety of colours and fabrics such as Bagru cotton sarees, Bagru silk sarees, Bagru georgette sarees, Bagru Chanderi sarees etc.
Bagru sarees were originally just made in Rajasthan, but as the craft and beauty of the sarees have flourished over time, more and more people were appalled by its beauty and hence, Bagru sarees are now manufactured almost all over India.
Every physical store in major cities such as Kolkata, Bangalore, Rajasthan have an ample amount of Bagru print saree collection and along with the stores, all the popular e-commerce websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, PeachMode, Mirraw etc sell Bagru sarees in a variety of colours, fabrics and designs.
The price of a Bagru saree ranges from INR 600 to almost INR 8,000 depending on the fabric, motifs and designs and other customizations. So, if someone is looking to buy a Bagru saree under 500, they might not get the original piece.
The Bagru saree is a work of art and the craft makers who create them, are extremely passionate and dedicate to making these sarees. There is almost 1 unit employing over 20,000 workers whose sole purpose is the creation of Bagru Sarees. Hence, owing to the dedication, devotion and talent of these skilled workers the Bagru Sarees continue becoming one of the most loved sarees not just in India, but the entire world.