Bherugarh (Bhairavgarh) Printing
Batik wax and carved block, printed in the old Malwa capital on the Kshipra.
Bhairavgarh (Bherugarh), on the outskirts of Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, is a printing centre known for batik — wax-resist dyeing — and for hand block printing. Craftsmen produce sarees, dupattas, yardage and furnishing with the fine crackled lines characteristic of batik alongside conventional block-printed florals and geometrics, often in indigo, black, maroon and earth reds. The cluster grew up around Ujjain's long-established dyeing and printing communities and is now identified specifically with batik.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Bherugarh, Madhya Pradesh
Also Known As
Bhairavgarh batik, Ujjain batik, Bagh-Bhairavgarh printing
Craft Type
Batik and block-printed textile
Practising Community
Chhipa printer-dyer families of Ujjain; a number of women's units do the waxing and finishing
Materials
Cotton and silk cloth; paraffin and beeswax for the resist; carved wooden blocks; and dyes including indigo, naphthol, reactive and, for some ranges, natural colours.
Known For
Wax-resist batik and hand block prints in the Ujjain–Bhairavgarh belt
Where It's Made
Bhairavgarh (Bherugarh), on the edge of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
Time to Create
Five to ten days per length across waxing, dyeing and de-waxing rounds
GI Status
Not GI-registered; nearby Bagh Prints of Madhya Pradesh are registered
Process Steps
Preparing the cloth
The fabric is washed and dried so wax and dye take evenly across it.
Applying the wax
Hot wax is applied with blocks, brushes or a canting over the areas that are to stay the current colour.
Cracking the wax
The waxed cloth is flexed so the wax layer fractures in fine lines that dye will later seep into.
Dyeing
The cloth is dipped in the dye bath; the wax resists the colour except where it has cracked.
De-waxing
The wax is removed by boiling the cloth in hot water or scraping and ironing it out between paper.
Repeating for further colours
The wax-crack-dye-dewax cycle is repeated for each additional colour, darkest last.
Block printing (where combined)
Carved blocks add printed borders, motifs or backgrounds to the batik-dyed cloth.
Washing and finishing
The finished cloth is washed to remove loose colour and any wax residue, dried and pressed.
Technique Glossary
Batik
A wax-resist dyeing method in which molten wax blocks dye from selected areas of cloth.
Canting (tjanting)
A small spouted copper tool for drawing fine lines of hot wax freehand.
Crackle
The network of thin dyed lines formed where the wax resist fractures before dyeing.
Chhipa
The hereditary block-printing and dyeing community of central and western India.
Naphthol dye
A group of bright, wash-fast dyes developed on the fibre, widely used in Indian batik and printing.
Wax block
A carved wooden block used to stamp a repeating pattern in hot wax rather than in colour.
De-waxing
Removing the resist wax after dyeing, by boiling, scraping or ironing.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-modern
Printers of Ujjain
Dyeing and printing communities serve the temple city and the Malwa trade routes.
20th century
Batik takes hold
Bhairavgarh becomes a recognised batik village, adapting the wax-resist method to local designs and dress.
Late 20th century
Craft schemes
Government support, design input and training for women's groups widen the market for the village's printed cloth.
21st century
Design collaborations
Fashion designers and institutions work with Bhairavgarh printers, taking batik onto contemporary garments.
Present
A batik identity
Bhairavgarh batik is marketed as a Madhya Pradesh speciality at fairs and through emporia, alongside Bagh print.
Did You Know?
The spidery cracked lines that connoisseurs prize in batik are technically a flaw — wax breaking under handling — but printers now crack the wax on purpose to get them.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.