India represents a country of rich culture, traditions, and values. Handicrafts play a very important role in interpreting the historical culture and tradition of the country. One such unique craft is Rogan paintings. This craft is Practised by a lone Muslim family, the Khatris from the Nirona village of Kutch district, Gujarat. This family has been practicing the art form and has kept it alive for three centuries. It is an art of cloth painting using different colors.
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Rogan a Persian word means Varnish or oil. The painting was originated in Persia and came down to kutch 400 years ago. The paint is made from thick brightly colored castor seed oil and is used to paint in the fabric. In the beginning, the castor seeds are crushed to extract the oil and then it is boiled in clay pots for nearly 12 hours. The residue is placed in cold water to merely ensure it does not get dry and then thicken to form a sticky elastic paste which is called as Rogan. Pigments are added gently to form colored paste and then it stored in earthen pots for further use.
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Artisans place a small amount of the paste in their palm and then at room temperature the using oversized blunt needle or rod the paste is gently stretched until a thread like structure is obtained.
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The paint is carefully twisted to get the motifs and beautiful designs using a blunt metal rod that never comes in the contact of the fabric. The artisans fold the image in a fabric and then a mirror image of the designs is formed. It is a very basic form of printing.
In the beginning, fabrics use was traditionally limited to a thick cotton fabric which was known as Khaddar and now due to customer demand, the local artisans typically began painting at fabrics like silk, polyester, cotton, etc. The final painted cloth is kept under the sun for drying. After drying the cloth is typically used for making sarees, decorative wall hangings, pillow covers, and tablecloths and even files folders also. The intricate motifs used are geometric flowers, peacocks; the tree of life, etc. are gently drawn from the folk culture the historical Kutch region.
The cloth that is painted on is usually dark in color which makes the intense color stand out. The design includes folk art, animals, birds, floral motifs which are inspired by the Kutch region.
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The Rogan painting is the dying textile art and unique craft which undoubtedly deserves hearty appreciation for its beautiful form and the hard work done by the local artisans on it. In olden days, it was traditionally used on bridal clothing to make the beautiful borderline on the traditional ghagra (skirt) and odhnis (scarf).
Rogan painting is an example of spellbinding artistry which is dying naturally, with just six people of the same family shouldering the tradition today. Gafoorbhai Khatri the head of the family and national award winner right now wants to open a school and demonstrate to people about the art form so that it gets spread all over the world.
With the cutting-edge technology defining pace the present generation does not want to carry forward the legacy as there is no profit in this field. The art form is well appreciated by our Prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi who has gifted this kind of art forms as a souvenir. The Tree of Life wall painting is one of the most famous.
This art form needs to be preserved before they suffer an unnatural death and the local artisans must be universally appreciated for their hard work and patience in making these unique masterpieces.
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