Ajrakh and Bandhani both come from the textile traditions of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Sindh, and both are often worn in deep reds and indigo, so they are easy to confuse. They are made in completely different ways. Ajrakh is a pattern printed onto cloth with carved wooden blocks; Bandhani is a pattern created by tying tiny points of cloth with thread before it is dyed.
Once you know how each is made, telling them apart takes a few seconds.
Ajrakh: resist printing with wooden blocks
Ajrakh is a form of resist block printing associated with Kutch in Gujarat, Barmer in Rajasthan and Sindh. Carved wooden blocks are used to print a resist paste and mordants onto the cloth, which is then dyed, washed and printed again over several stages. Traditional Ajrakh uses deep indigo blue and madder red with black and white.
The patterns are dense and geometric: star and lattice shapes, with borders framing a central field, repeated with the regularity of a block. Look closely and you will often see the small overlaps and joins where one block impression meets the next.
Ajrakh prints to shop
Bandhani: tied by hand, dot by dot
Bandhani (also bandhej) is a tie-dye craft of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Before dyeing, the cloth is pinched up into tiny points, each wound tightly with thread. The tied points resist the dye, and when the threads are opened they leave a pattern of small dots, arranged into circles, waves, flowers and borders.
Leheriya, from Rajasthan, is a related resist technique: the cloth is rolled and tied diagonally to give waves and stripes rather than dots.
Hand-tied Bandhani or a Bandhani print?
Bandhani’s dotted look is also printed, digitally or with blocks, onto fabric. A Bandhani print is a design, not the tie-dye technique, and it is usually lighter, flatter and more affordable. Both are legitimate; they are simply different things, and the product description should tell you which one you are buying.
To tell them apart: hand-tied dots are never perfectly round or perfectly spaced, a new piece often has a crinkled texture from the ties, and the dots show through almost as strongly on the reverse. Printed dots are uniform and sit on the surface, with a paler reverse.
Caring for Ajrakh and Bandhani
Hand wash in cold water with a mild detergent, separately for the first few washes, as deep naturally dyed colours can release some dye at first. Do not soak, wring or tumble dry; dry in the shade, away from direct sun, which fades indigo and red.
Iron on the reverse at a low to medium setting. Hand-tied Bandhani is meant to keep a little of its texture, so do not press it completely flat.
Questions, answered
What is the difference between Ajrakh and Bandhani?
Ajrakh is resist block printing with carved wooden blocks, giving dense geometric patterns. Bandhani is tie-dye: tiny points of cloth are tied with thread before dyeing, leaving patterns of dots.
How can I tell if Bandhani is hand-tied?
Hand-tied dots are slightly irregular, the fabric is often crinkled when new, and the pattern shows almost as strongly on the reverse. Printed Bandhani dots are uniform and paler on the back.
Does Ajrakh fade?
Deep natural dyes can release a little colour in the first washes. Wash separately in cold water and dry in the shade to keep the colour.
