Hand Block – Printing of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh

Farrukhabad cotton print products include scarves, stoles, fabric, sarees, gents’ mufflers, shawls, bedspreads, cushion covers, curtains, cushions with long stripes, etc. These items are profusely decorated hand-block printed designs.

It is believed that the skill of cotton printing originated in Farrukhabad almost a thousand years ago. The printing on cotton and silk is done with hand-blocks; the design is first carved on blocks of wood and then stamped on to the cloth. One particular pattern, the tree of life, is the main characteristic of this artistic work. It is also one of the most important foreign exchange earners and the district occupies a prominent place on the export map of the world for it silk and cotton prints.

The artisans of Farrukhabad practice two types of printing—block-printing and screen-printing. Previously, the artisans used natural dyes, but at present they use both vegetable and synthetic dyes. Earlier, potatoes were used as blocks for printing with vegetable and natural dyes.