Roghan Block Printing

The word rogan comes from the Persian word for varnish/oil. Rogan is produced by boiling castor oil for two days, then by adding vegetable dyes and a binding agent to the mix. A thick, gooey residue is left behind, cooled, and turned into a shiny paste called rogan.

Rogan is printed with a brass block onto the fabric and dusted with a powder to dry the paste so that it sticks to the fabric.

Rogan blocks have stencilled patterns which are cut out of their top surface. Each motif or border is a composite made up of many small dots and dashes. The blocks are hollow and made of brass.

The thick rogan paste is pushed through the hollow block with a wooden mallet, thereby transferring the stencilled pattern onto the cloth below.

Shown here are blocks from Anees and Tofiq Rangrez’s workshop in Ahmedabad.

Featured here is Tilla's Organza Rogan Saree in Natural.