Bagru Chhippa community

Bagru is located 30 kilometers south-west of Jaipur along the Ajmer Highway. The Chhipa community has been hand block printing in Bagru for about 350 years, developing a unique process with natural vegetable dyes. The Bagru Chhipa community migrated from Jaipur and settled in the Bagru area near the Sanjaria River because it provided the necessary water for printing. Even though the river dried up 20 years ago, many printing families still reside in the area called Chhipa Mohalla (the printers’ quarters). There are two main types of hand block printing in Bagru, Bagru printing and Dabu.

In the last 20 years, Bagru’s population has tremendously increased on account of Bagru textiles being appreciated and exported overseas. The Bagru RIICO Industrial Area has been a resultant of this.

The “Chhipa” community engaged in this traditional craft has settled here from various parts of Northern and Western India, and has gracefully carried forward this traditional art form, over successive generations. The printers interact with each other and come under an organization called 'Chhippa Samaj'.