How COVID-19-induced lockdown has pushed Rajasthan’s traditional block printing community to the brink
For the crafts-dependent community in Bagru, practically overnight, the entire cycle of demand and supply came to a standstill, with revenues registering a ‘zero’. Going forward, the only hope for the people of Bagru is incentivised and increased demand.
Representative Image.
Everyone has worn kurtas, dupattas or sarees with the iconic floral or geometric hand-prints from Rajasthan. But given the tough times that the crafts community of block printers is facing in the wake of the COVID pandemic; these could soon become a thing of the past. The mood is sombre in the small town of Bagru, 32 km from Jaipur, known for the handicraft of block printing on textiles. Even though the thousands of metres of fabric printed by the families through the traditional Dabu hand printing method are famous not just in India but across the world; the last year has been bleak for the communit