What is dabu pritiAbout 30 minutes away from Maharana Pratap Airport in Udaipur, you enter a compound where your eyes straightaway go to the yards of cotton fabric hanging from bamboo poles high above the ground, drying in the gentle breeze. On the gravel-laid compound, block-printed and indigo dyed swathes lay drying in the sun, surrounded by workshops with walls and windows painted in similar shades of blue and white. Aavaran, a 17-year-old homegrown textile centre in Udaipur, is paving the way for Dabu textile to survive, thrive and evolve with time.
Dabu comes from the Hindi word ‘dabana’, meaning to press. It is a mud-resist block printing technique that creates designs by printing a resist pattern using blocks. The fabric is dyed, and the mud resist is washed off for unveiling the final motif. The resist is very similar to batik and bandhani; the former uses wax resist to create designs, while the latter uses small knots tied on fabric with threads. But at the same time, the use of wooden blocks with intricate designs brings it closer to block printing styles of Bagru and Sanganer, also from Rajasthan.
Founded and run by Alka Sharma, Aavaran, shares that it is the quality of the mud that is at the heart of the textile art. She works extensively with the Chippa community from Akola, a village near Chittaurgarh, who have persevered in keeping Dabu alive for more than 500 years. The clay from the banks of the River Berach, which passes through Chittaurgarh, Udaipur and Bhilwara, is mixed with limestone and Acacia gum to form a fine paste.
Block patterns are dipped in this clay concoction and then printed on the fabric, forming the resist. Inside the workshop, swathes of freshly washed natural cotton fabric are tightly stretched on rows of planks, ready for motifs to be imprinted.
The motifs come in all shapes and sizes, intricately carved on wood, preferably teak. These occupy industrial shelves in Aavaran workshops under different collection names. Sharma shares that these names are the design interns and artists who created the original templates for the motifs.
“It is our way of acknowledging and recognising their work,” she adds. One of the biggest evolutions for Dabu has been in the imagery—from what used to be traditional flora and fauna-inspired designs, the designs are now inspired by modern abstract and international inspirations. From snowflakes to porcupines and polka dots to mandalas, these blocks are painstakingly carved, some in multiples for double or triple dying.
The mud-resist fabric dipped in a vat of dye, traditionally indigo, for a minute or so and then left to dry in the stark Rajasthan sun. If the design has multiple layers, the block-printing process is repeated to add more details and shades.
Indigo is mixed with lime and water and left to ferment; this results in a funky-smelling, frothy, dirty, green coloured liquid. When the fabric is dipped into this dye, it takes on a greenish hue. Once the fabric is pulled out from the dye vat, the green quickly turns to the deep indigo—it is magical to watch when nature and man join hands to create a chemical reaction that adds beauty to textiles.
At Aavaran, Sharma and her team of artisans and designers are now looking at how to make Dabu contemporary. She is working with other natural dyes such as Indian Madder and Myrobalan for red and yellow colours, respectively. Aavaran works with some of the biggest ethnic wear brands in India and international textile experts.
Once the fabrics are printed and dyed, they are then stitched into garments. Sharma employs local women to tailor the pieces, promoting financial independence and self-confidence amongst them. The final garments are then scrutinized by Jaypore’s quality assurance team before they are dispatched for retail.
On the ethnic wear brand’s part, it also goes the extra mile with detailed packaging and information dissemination to ensure buyers understand the craftwork, its process and its heritage. It is a fascinating symbiotic relationship between Aavaran and Jaypore that has allowed Dabu block-printing to enter the contemporary age of fashion.
(By Sayoni Bhaduri)