Bela Print is that it is Mordant printing type Hand Block Printing Technique, similar to Bagru Print. In Mordant printing technique, printer applied dyes directly on the piece of cloth with Hand Wooden Block, Red and black colours are iconic to Bela printing, colours which are used the most for their colour fastness. The colours used in Bela printing are all natural and vegetable colours. In Bela printing, the prints are bold and graphic. They grab attention with a vibrant palette when printed on a plain cloth of fabric. Bela Print draws its name from the village Bela near Rapar Taluka in Kutch.
Bela Printing is a vanishing art and only one artisan, Mansukhbhai Khatri is now practicing this art as on today. Yet, Kachchh has been a producer district of Bela-style cloth for as long as people can remember.
Materials: Cloth, Natural dyes made from natural resource, Hand carved wooden block.
Process: First the cloth is washed in river and there’s a “kundi”-small pit in which the cloth is pressed to drain out the water and cloth is allowed to become semi dry. While the process of washing is going on; the wooden carved blocks are kept in dye. Then the cloth is dried on the ground under the sun. After the cloth and wooden blocks are dried, the printing starts. The Wooden carved blocks are dipped in the natural colours and pressed inside the outline of the cloth.
