A winter guide to Jaipuri razais
Choosing weight, filling and print for a hand-quilted razai, and caring for it between winters.
Visiting Sanganer and Bagru from Jaipur
Two printing towns within an hour of the city: how to get there, and what to see in each.
Sanganer and Bagru are the two printing towns closest to Jaipur, and they could not be more different. Both are worth a morning if you are interested in textiles.
Sanganer is now part of the city, about 16 km south of the old walls, near the airport. It is known for fine floral prints on white and pale grounds, printed in many colours with very small blocks. The printing lanes around Chhipa Mohalla, where our workshop is, are busy from 9 am. Many workshops are happy to let you watch for a few minutes if you ask. Go on a weekday; Sunday is quieter.
Bagru is 32 km west, off the Ajmer road, about an hour by car. It is a smaller town with older traditions: dabu mud-resist, syahi-begar black and cream, and natural dyes like indigo, madder and pomegranate rind. The cloth is dried on open grounds outside town, and in the dry months you will see long lengths laid out in the sun.
We suggest Sanganer in the morning and Bagru in the afternoon. Wear shoes you do not mind getting dyed, and carry water. Workshops are working spaces, so ask before taking photographs of people. If you would like to try printing yourself, our two-hour session in Sanganer is a good start, and we can tell you which Bagru families welcome visitors.
