A traditional block-printing technique, said to have been around for more than 4,000 years, used to come up with a collection decades ago is among the biggest draws at ‘Maldhari Block Prints, You Have Not Seen Before’, an exhibition that opened on September 17 at South Delhi’s Dastkari Haat Studio, according to Dr Ismail Mohammad Khatri, 67, the artisan behind the revival of collection.Every sari, shawl, or dupatta, which is on display, has distinctive motifs with historical significance that tell the stories of pastoral Maldhari communities of Kutch from Gujarat. Dr Khatri points to the stepwell motifs on a blue and black sari. “For the nomadic Maldhari family in Kutch, a stepwell was a reason to halt — the presence of water decided where they camped in the desert,” he explains. The exhibition at Dastkari Haat is on until September 20.The nearly 45 year-old-collection — where items range from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 — has been revived by Dr Khatri of Dhamadka village with his brothers, Mohd Razzakbhai and Jabbarbhai. The family, boasting of a rich heritage, owns a studio in Kutch’s Ajrakhpur, a village where the family settled after the 2001 Bhuj earthquake and named it after Ajrakh, the iconic block-printing technique. Ajrakh artisan Dr Ismail Mohammad Khatri at the ‘Maldhari Block Prints, You Have Not Seen Before’ exhibition in Delhi.In the 1980s, when Ajrakh was hardly known beyond Kutch, it was this family whose prints got the craft noticed across India. Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, among others, embraced the sartorial grace.Speaking about the cultural history of the technique, Dr Khatri refers to the connection to Dholavira, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Harappan city of the Indus Valley Civilisation. For the Dholavira Festival held in Kutch in 2025, he made an art piece with 69 hand-carved wooden blocks and hand-painted details in natural-dyed Ajrakh. The trefoil-like design on the shawl of Mohenjodaro’s Priest-King has been compared to Ajrakh patterns, an evidence that the craft existed even 4,000 years ago, he says.Motifs & historical pastThe Maldhari block prints were going to be presented at least six years earlier in Delhi, according to the family. The opportunity, however, was lost due to the Covid pandemic, and now they have finally found their way to the Capital.In the newly-discovered prints, each motif is steeped in a historical past. Ladudo represents the rolled straw bundles strapped to camels when these tribal families moved. Fuldi means hawaman or wind direction, which gives indication of temperature and mosquitoes. Koyaro is a spider; Pinjaro, a birdcage; Surajmukhi, a sunflower.Story continues below this adPointing to the sarees on display, Dr Khatri says, “That’s the Kukadaankh print, which means the rooster’s eye. It was worn by elderly women of the Muslim Maldhari community.”Referring to a blue and white sari, he says, “This motif here is called Charkaliya. While people call it a sparrow (chakli), it actually represents a madhumakhi (honeybee), helping farmers through pollination.”The hues, the meaning Ajrakh is made with natural dyes. Cotton and silk are among the preferred fabrics for the block printing technique. The traditionally used colours are red and blue. The technique is said to have helped the pastoral community survive extreme weather.“The natural dyes we use work like wax. In summer, the pores of the fabric open up, so air passes through easily, and the fabric keeps you cool. In winter, the same pores close, and the fabric keeps you warm,” explains Dr Khatri.Story continues below this ad Dr Ismail Mohammad Khatri showcases traditional Ajrakh prints at Dastkari Haat Studio in South Delhi.Even the use of bright colours holds a meaning. “When someone fell sick or fainted in the desert while working, they could be easily noticed due to the bright clothes in the white desert of Rann,” he explains.At the same time, certain colours were reserved for certain communities — like green for farmers. That provided “hunting and field logic before modern military camouflage existed,” according to him.Wearing a black Ajrakh sari with the Kamariya motif printed in white, Jaya Jaitly, curator and founder of Dastkari Haat Samiti, shares how her two-decade-old green cotton sari has turned “into a beautiful blue” because of repeated washing as she points to the technique of mixing of colours for dyeing. The legacy of a familyOriginally from Pakistan’s Sindh, the Khatri community was said to have been invited to Kutch in 1586 by Raja Bharmal I, who granted them land and tax exemption on their produce. They settled in Dhamadka village by the Saran river — the water was essential for washing printed cloth.Story continues below this adAround 1989, the river significantly dried up and the remaining water was contaminated with iron*, posing a key hurdle. In 2001, the devastating Bhuj earthquake destroyed homes and workshops, making it impossible to continue living and working there. The community then relocated to a new village near Bhuj, which they named Ajrakhpur, literally meaning “the town of Ajrakh”. Dr Khatri gradually secured a Rs 1-crore mega-cluster grant from the state government for effluent treatment plants and land.