Visit to Pilkuwa - Women on Wings

A first Women on Wings field visit to Pilkuwa  

Pilkuwa is a block carving centre 
in the northern textile belt including Meerut, Panipat, etc. 

on route to the small yet prosperous town 
there is a railway station named "chippiyan Buzurgh" (printing venerable) 
is there a still older town than this town 

large blocks, streets at right angles, semi- covered drains

the houses are a large block with the ground floor dedicated to the cloth business 
& no women in sight
traditionally a block carving & printing "industry", 
graduated to canvas for military use in the 20th century 

now acidic printed towels, bed linen, etc. 
& some great examples of fine hand skill

BLOCK MAKING :

 the outline & color fill of the one motifs

Each block motif may have 4/5/6/7 parts
they say upto 100! for the famous Sooraj Mukhi pattern

each new color, line & fill demands an individual block
the image above show only two of many

the block maker

the units are small 3X5' cabins, that house a shelf of blocks & maybe two carvers. 

this street is chippiyan ka Mowhalla ( Printer's Street) 

PROCESS 

hard woods like indian rosewood (shisham), teak, etc. are used 

blocks for printing are carved on the vertical face of the wood to ensure durability

generally wood is used along the horizontal grain

the vertical face is high in compressive strength to withstand the impact while printing 

Sajawat Handicrafts  is one of the larger manufacturers here, a unit hosting 10+ carvers, finishing equipments, etc.

wire inlay 

so fine the pattern hardly visible 

Recently Azhar Kamal & his uncle have been jointly awarded the Certificate of Merit in block carving from the Government 

exploring the skills, product

Dhanya vaad = Danke Well


Image Credits : Irma van Zand