What Is Ajrakh? The Block Print of Sindh and Kutch, Explained

Ajrakh is the deep indigo and madder-red block print of Sindh and Kutch, a cloth of interlocking circles, stars and lattices printed on both sides and dyed again and again until the colour is fixed. If you have come across the word on a stole, a shirt or a museum label, this guide explains what ajrakh is, where it is made today, how the dozen-plus stages work, and how to tell real ajrakh from a screen print that borrows the pattern. Updated October 2026.

What does ajrakh mean?

Nobody agrees, and the arguments are part of the story. Sahapedia, India's open cultural encyclopedia, notes that in Arabic the colour blue is referred to as 'Ajrak', which would suit a cloth that was mostly indigo. It also records a Sindhi reading, 'Aaj rakh do (Let this be for today)', a printer's joke about how long the work takes. Wikipedia offers a third, Persian derivation from ajar, meaning "brick". Ajrak, with a k, is the usual spelling in Sindh; ajrakh, with kh, is common in India. They are the same cloth.

Where ajrakh comes from: Sindh, Kutch and Barmer

Ajrakh began on the lower Indus. Wikipedia describes it as a symbol of Sindhi culture and traditions, still presented to guests as a mark of respect, and points to the "Priest-King" bust from Mohenjo-daro, whose robe carries a trefoil pattern that some see as an early ancestor.

It reached India with its printers. Sahapedia records that the ruler of Kutch, Rao Bharmalji – I (1586–1631), invited the cloth-printing Khatri artisans from Sindh and gave them land to settle. The villages of Dhamadka and Khavda in Kutch became the primary centres, followed by Barmer in Rajasthan. The traditional buyers were herding communities: in Kutch the Maldharis, who wore ajrakh as a sarong and turban.

Ajrakhpur. In January 2001 the Gujarat earthquake almost destroyed the village of Dhamadka. The Hindu reported that the quake also raised the iron in Dhamadka's water, so the colours were bleeding, and the printers moved to a new site near Bhuj that they named Ajrakhpur, after their craft. It is now the best-known ajrakh village in India. "Kutch Ajrakh Print of Gujarat" is a registered Geographical Indication, application no. 1050, filed by the Ajarakhpur Hastkala Vikas Sangathan, with its certificate of registration dated April 2024.

How ajrakh is made

Ajrakh is one of the most demanding block prints in the world, because every colour is built from a resist, a mordant and a dye bath, and the cloth is washed and dried between each. An Ajrakhpur printer explained the rhythm to The Hindu: he prints one colour of a design and washes the cloth till he gets the colour right before printing the next. Simplified, the work runs like this:

1. Preparing the cloth. The cotton is washed and softened, then treated with harda (myrobalan), a tannin that helps the later colours bond.
2. Printing the resists and mordants. Carved blocks stamp a resist paste where the cloth must stay white, and a mordant where it should turn red or black. Sahapedia notes that lime is used as an adhesive in the resist, and that handling it well is a sign of the printer's skill.
3. Dyeing in indigo. The cloth goes into the indigo vat for the blue field.
4. Dyeing in red. A second bath, in madder or alizarin, brings out the reds where the mordant was printed.
5. Washing and drying. Each stage ends with washing and sun-drying, which is why clean water matters so much to the craft.

The materials are mostly natural. One Ajrakhpur printer told The Hindu he works with camel dung, soda ash, castor oil, myrobalen, madder and more, and that each colour requires a different block, carved in teak because it does not warp. The V&A holds a set of process samples from Kutch, made in 2006, that show a strip of cloth at each stage of completion.

Ajrakh patterns and colours

The look is unmistakable: a dense, symmetrical grid in four colours. Wikipedia describes typical ajrakh as deep indigo and crimson with white and black defining the geometric motifs. The geometry reflects Islamic design traditions, with patterns built from intersecting circles, stars and lattices; Sahapedia mentions designs called 'riyal' and 'ishq painch', and a motif called kakad, cloud.

A traditional ajrakh is a fixed format too. Sahapedia gives the usual size as 1 metre wide and 2.5 metres long, with set borders on three sides and a centre that can change. The V&A's 19th-century ajrakh shawl from Sind shows the classic arrangement: a blue field of large and small circles in red, blue, black and white, framed by floral borders.

How to spot real ajrakh

Ajrakh is expensive to make, so cheap copies are everywhere. Sahapedia notes that the Khatris' traditional customers largely switched to screen-printed material using chemical dyes because of the price. To tell them apart:

• Check both sides. Traditional ajrakh is printed on both faces, and Sahapedia describes the best cloths as evenly printed on both sides. A screen print is usually pale or blank on the back.
• Read the colour. Natural indigo and madder give deep, slightly uneven blues and brick reds. Flat, bright, perfectly even colour suggests synthetic dyes.
• Look at the joins. Hand blocks leave small shifts where one impression meets the next, and outlines that are a touch soft. Machine repeats are seamless.
• Ask where it was made. Genuine pieces usually come with a printer's name or village: Ajrakhpur, Dhamadka, Barmer or a Sindhi workshop.

How to wear ajrakh

Ajrakh is bold but its palette is calm, which makes it easier to wear than it looks. A single ajrakh piece, a stole, a shirt or a kurta, works best with solids drawn from its own colours: indigo, rust, black or undyed white. Over a plain kurta or a white shirt and wide trousers, an ajrakh dupatta carries the whole outfit. It suits men and women equally; in Sindh it has always been worn by both.

“Ajrakh already has four colours and a grid, so give it one solid partner, indigo or rust, and wear it with silver rather than gold,” says First Resort founder and fashion designer Ramola Bachchan.

Avoid mixing it with other busy prints. If you like ajrakh's geometry but want something lighter for travel, our geometric prints and tribal prints share its sense of pattern in a resort cut, and a solid kaftan or caftan makes an easy base for an ajrakh stole. First Resort does not make ajrakh itself.

Frequently asked questions

What is ajrakh print?

It is a hand-block print from Sindh and Kutch in which cotton is printed with resists and mordants and dyed in indigo and madder, producing dense geometric patterns in red, blue, black and white, traditionally on both sides of the cloth.

Where is ajrakh made in India?

Mainly in Kutch, Gujarat, in the villages of Ajrakhpur near Bhuj and Dhamadka, and in Barmer, Rajasthan. Ajrakhpur was founded by printers who left Dhamadka after the 2001 earthquake.

Is ajrakh the same as block print?

Ajrakh is a kind of block print, but a particularly complex one. Most block prints carry colour on the block; ajrakh is built from many layers of resist, mordant and dye, with washing in between, and is usually printed on both sides.

What is the difference between ajrakh and bagru?

Both are hand-block prints, but ajrakh comes from Sindh and Kutch and is defined by dense geometric patterns in indigo and red on both sides, while Bagru, near Jaipur, is known for floral motifs and for the mud-resist dabu technique.

Does real ajrakh fade?

Naturally dyed ajrakh can lose a little colour in its first washes and softens over time, but well-fixed indigo and madder last for years. Wash it in cold water with a mild detergent and dry it in the shade.

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