Hand Block – Printing of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

In the border town of Jaisalmer a kind of resist printing requiring very low temperatures is done. This can thus be processed only during the night and in winter. The resist used is wax, and the blocks have special raised surfaces so that the deep grooves are dipped well into wax. The wax is then washed off in hot or flowing water and the applied diffuses into the area. The main colour used is dark red, from which varying tones are obtained. A local ritual sari called the jarribhat is printed here. This has an unusual design made up of squares with the back-ground colours being black, red, and pink.