Ajrakh Block Printing: History, Natural Dyes, and Kutch Traditions

In 1973, archaeologists excavating the ruins of Mohenjo-daro — a 4,500-year-old city of the Indus Valley Civilisation in present-day Pakistan — found fragments of cloth with geometric block-printed patterns. The eight-pointed star. The interlocking diamond lattice. The precise, repeating borders. When textile historians compared these fragments to the Ajrakh cloth still being made by the Khatri artisan families of Kutch, Gujarat, the patterns were almost identical. The oldest documented block-print tradition in the world appears to have maintained remarkable continuity — though historians note the Indus Valley connection remains interpretive, based on pattern similarity rather than a fully documented unbroken chain.

What Ajrakh Means

The word Ajrakh has been traced to the Arabic azrak, meaning blue — a reference to the deep natural indigo that defines the cloth’s colour identity. But older Kutchi oral traditions connect the name to aaj rakh — “keep it today” — a phrase that captures the urgency of a craft that must be done in a single continuous process. Once the resist-printing begins, it cannot stop. The chemistry of natural dye on natural cloth does not wait.

Ajrakh is made exclusively by the Khatri community — a group of artisan families who have been practising this craft for generations in Kutch, Gujarat, and Barmer, Rajasthan. The Khatris are not simply craftspeople; they are the living custodians of an unbroken knowledge chain that connects modern India to the Indus Valley Civilisation. Their GI-tagged craft is one of the most academically documented textile traditions in the world, studied by museums from the V&A in London to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

The Process: Seventeen Steps in Three Days

Authentic Ajrakh is a resist-print process — meaning the pattern is created not by printing colour directly, but by printing a resist (usually a mixture of clay and lime) to block the dye from certain areas. The sequence is precise and non-negotiable:

The cloth — always hand-woven cotton — is first washed repeatedly to remove all starches. It is then treated with a solution of camel dung, soda, and castor oil and dried for two days. This “scouring” opens the cotton fibre to receive dye permanently. Then the resist printing begins: carved wooden blocks stamp a paste of clay and lime onto the cloth, protecting the areas that will remain white. The cloth goes into an indigo vat. The resist protects the white areas. The remaining exposed cloth takes on the deep indigo blue.

After the indigo bath, the resist is washed away, revealing crisp white patterns against deep blue. Then madder (a plant-based red dye) is applied to create the second colour register. Another resist layer. Another wash. Some Ajrakh pieces go through this process up to seventeen times to achieve the complex multi-colour geometric patterns that are the hallmark of master craftsmen.

The Eight-Pointed Star: Surajkund

The most iconic Ajrakh motif is the eight-pointed star, called the Surajkund — literally “sun pool” or “sun pond”. It is a sun symbol: eight rays radiating outward in perfect geometric symmetry. In Islamic geometric tradition (which influenced Ajrakh significantly during the Sultanate period), the eight-pointed star represents the eight directions of the cosmos. In older Hindu Vedic tradition, eight is the number of the ashta-dikpala — the eight guardian deities of the eight directions.

The genius of Ajrakh geometry is that the eight-pointed star is also a tessellating shape — it tiles perfectly with squares and can repeat infinitely without gaps. This is why Ajrakh fabric feels complete in a way that other prints do not. There is no wasted space, no empty ground. Every inch is structured. The pattern has no beginning and no end. It is, mathematically, infinite.

The 2001 Earthquake and the Survival of Ajrakh

On January 26, 2001, a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck the Bhuj district of Kutch, killing over 20,000 people. The Khatri artisan village of Dhamadka, the historical centre of Ajrakh production, was almost entirely destroyed. The river Saran — whose clay-rich water the Khatri artisans had used for resist printing for generations — was diverted by the earthquake and no longer ran through Dhamadka.

The reconstruction of the Ajrakh craft tradition post-earthquake became one of India’s most celebrated craft revival stories. International NGOs, the Indian government, and craft organisations helped the Khatri artisans rebuild their workshops in a new village called Ajrakhpur. The artisans adapted their resist formulas to the new water source. They documented their process for the first time. Ajrakh emerged from the rubble not just intact but more widely known than it had ever been.

Carry India’s Heritage Art With You

At BECEONE, we study India’s greatest art traditions — Kalamkari, Ajrakh, Pichwai, Phulkari, Gond, Kerala Mural, Tanjore — and translate their design languages onto premium vegan leather flip covers. Our Kalakari Paisley series draws directly from the 3,000-year-old Kalamkari pen-art tradition of Andhra Pradesh: the earthy palette, the sacred paisley motifs, the interlocking vine geometry.

Available in four colours: Kalakari Red • Kalakari Blue • Kalakari Green • Kalakari Brown. Each available for 100 models across Samsung, Vivo, Realme, iPhone, OnePlus & Nothing Phone.

---