Akola Mern Block Printing on Textile

According to oral lore the Cheepa community of block printers and the Neelgar community of indigo dyers have been working and living in Cheepon Ka Akola - the Akola of the Printers, since at least 600 years, their memories extending back ten generations. Their clients, long-established dwellers in these parts belong to the tribal and peasant communities of the Jat, Gujjar, Raigar, Mali and others.

While a majority of the block printers in Akola have extended their markets beyond the borders of Rajasthan, even internationally, a small minority of three families continue to process the cotton, handprint the motifs and dye the colours according to the ritual needs of their time-honoured clients. Their colour palette of indigo-blue, blood-red and white is supplemented by green, remains unchanged. The motifs, each known by name, are closely associated with the caste of the wearer, augmenting and underlining their identities. Their hard wearing cotton prints converted into the full-gathered draw- string closure, phentiya long skirt and the head veil odhini for the women and the turban cloth for men.

The printing technique requires that the white dots on the cotton fabric and the blood-red colour motifs that are hand printed on be protected from the repeated dips in the indigo dye. The application of a glutinous oily resinous Mern resist safeguards and secures the reserved colour, withstanding 8 to 12 dips in the boiling indigo vat. These repeated immersions, often over a period of three to four days are accompanied by air-drying for oxidisation and colour development and followed by sun-drying in between immersions. The result a deep blue-black colour, demanded by the client. The Mern resist protecting the base white and red motif through the repeated dips and drying.

The source and composition of the Mern resin is obscure; its use associated with the Cheepa printers deity Saint Namdev, who legend has it gifted them the secret of the Mern. The blocks for stamping the Mern resist are also unusual, being a combination of wood and metal.

While much has remained the same in Akola there is also change, the Bedach River that flowed through the village with its mineral rich waters that enhanced the dyed colours is now dry, its sandy bed used for drying the dyed fabric. The weavers of the strong long-use Reja cotton cloth, the fabric of choice, have left their hereditary calling to move to other trades. The demand for Mern resist textiles is on the wane with the young not willing to carry on the tradition and urban fashions changing the sartorial needs of the clientele.