Hand Block Printing on textiles refers to the technique by which carved wooden blocks covered with dye are repeatedly pressed along a length of cloth to create patterns. The beginnings of the art of ornamenting textile fabrics by the stamping or printing on of colored designs are lost in antiquity.

The crease line disappears very quickly once the rug is laid out.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIAN BLOCK PRINTING

It is the essence of India and the crafts that make India stand out in the world. However, the numerous arts and crafts are slowly dying and so have to be renewed and brought back to life. Hand Block Printing is such an art which can be used for making every piece of cloth, every design unique and different from others. This can never be possible by using automated machinery.

It is skill passed through many generations, and has traditionally been done using Natural Dyes and should be preserved. What makes this technique unique is the fact that the design has to be first carved onto the wooden block by hand, and then executed on the fabric. There is no doubt that factory-printed textiles are often cheaper and perhaps more color fast compared to block printed fabrics. However, block printed fabric reflects human labor and sensibilities of the craftsman which no machine made fabric can ever do.