Block printing is practiced in many areas of Rajasthan; each area has its own color schemes and designs. Through the use of carved wooden blocks, the printer is able to produce a wide range of fabrics in bright colors and attractive designs.

Wood carvers create designs in the wooden blocks as they have done for centuries. During block printing these carved wooden blocks are dipped into die and pressed onto the cloth which has been stretched across a low table.

The block printing industry has flourished in Sanganer, a small village outside Jaipur. Although the desire for block printed fabrics has increased during the past few decades, today many printers produce fabrics using screen printing methods rather than the more costly process of block printing by hand.

The fabrics at left were purchased at FabIndia in Delhi when we made our shopping trip to buy our traditional clothes. We purchased salvar kameez' and odhinis to wear when we visited the villages. I cannot say for sure that these particular fabrics were block printed or screen printed. However, they are representative of the designs one sees. We did not visit the textile factory in Sanganer as planned, because the group decided to visit the paper factory instead.