Union Textiles Minister Inaugurates Titanwala Museum in Rajasthan

Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani inaugurated the ‘Titanwala Museum’ in Bagru that showcases the Chhipa community’s Bagru hand-block printing.
Acknowledging the effort of Suraj Narayan Titanwala, who took the initiative of setting up the museum, Minister said that the museum is an example that art and culture are not dependent on the government for being nurtured or preserved.

Bagru hand-block printing

Bagru printing is one of the traditional techniques of printing with natural colour followed by the chippas of Rajasthan. The Bagru hand-block printing has a history of over 1000 years.
The fabric is first soaked in Fuller’s earth and then dipped into turmeric water to get a tone of yellow colour. Then the dyed fabric is stamped with the beautiful designs known as blocks.
Block printing is a labour intensive process. It requires a lot of skillfulness, time and tolerance power of artisan. The wooden blocks of teak-wood are used for printing the design which is soaked in oil overnight and then washed before putting in to use.
The cloth to be printed is soaked in the solution of clay and other chemicals to make the fabric soften and then dried before used for printing. Neat stamping is foremost to get the appealing prints. After printing, the cloth is left for drying in sun for final touch-up.