Cotton Kota Doria Bagh Print Saree 001

Baghprints originally belong to Bagh and Kukshi region of Madhya Pradesh. These are famous for their red and black Alizarine  prints on cotton fabrics. These prints are being made using same procedures and dyes in many other places as well,  though the blocks are different and of course their rendition too is different.   

Bagh a small village of Madhya Pradesh,  is struggling to survive as a hand block printing Centre with very few printers left who are still pursuing the profession.

 The river Baghini flows through Bagh and Kukshi, it is believed that the brightness in the colours of bagh prints is because of the water of this river. Lt. Ismail Suleman khatri,  the award winning printer from bagh tried to establish a printing unit in Bhopal but could not get the brightness in colors as he did in Bagh, and had to return to Bagh to continue printing.

bagh prints are well known for their bright red and bright black prints, sometimes indigo is also used though it is rare to find baghprints in indigo. Ochre is another popular colour we see in baghprints.

apart from the colours it is their motifs that are also very typical and well known specially variations of paisley motif. some of them are so intricate that one wonders at the fineness of the artistry. 

Many motifs are made using two or three blocks. Most motifs use the 'Rekh' block for outlines and 'Datta' block for filling inside. sometimes the background of the fabric is coloured red or black, this is done using the 'Gadh' block which applies the alum or iron rust allover the fabric leaving a precut space within for the motif.

making baghprint is a very lengthy process, starting with preparation of the fabric for printing and dying, this takes about 4-5 days. pring is done with alum paste for red and iron rust paste for black using wooden blocks. once printed the fabric is boiled in a mixture containing alizarine and 'dhawde ke phool' (a wild flower found in abundance in the forests nearby). during all the processes and after the boiling fabric is washed several times in bagh river.

In this collection the print is baghprint while some of the sarees are dyed in different colours after the printing is finished to make them more appealing and adding a variation to the only red and black palette.

Printer: Idris Khatri