Textiles: Block Prints of India
The legacy of textiles in India can be traced back thousands of years ago, in the times when the Harappan civilization flourished in the Indus Valley. The very popular bust of the Priest-King where a male figure is portrayed donning a robe on his left shoulder with drilled trefoil pattern is an excellent indicator of the well-developed textile craft in the region. Evidence of cotton fiber, tools used in the process of weaving, excavated structures recognized as possible dyeing workshops, remains of indigo seeds and a solitary fragment of madder dyed cotton are all the proofs of an advanced textile manufacturing knowledge prevalent among the Harappans. One such textile tradition, known as Hand Block printing, possibly (although not conclusively proven) found its roots in this very civilization. Hand block printing or block printing is a technique where wooden blocks are pressed and stamped on the fabric to get desired prints. However, to obtain such finesse, an elaborate procedure is fo