The block-printers who rebuilt a village

Ajrakh, the deep blue-and-crimson resist-printed cloth of Kutch and Sindh, depends on river water. When the Dhamadka river dried up in the 1990s, the printing community there began planning a move. The earthquake of 26 January 2001, which devastated Kutch, accelerated everything: in Dhamadka alone, 105 community members died.

The community's new home, Ajrakhpur near Bhuj, was built afterwards. Reporting by Local Samosa, on the 25th anniversary of the quake, follows master printer Dr Ismail Mohamed Khatri and Mukesh Bhanani of the Kala Raksha Trust. It records an exhibition titled Resurgence 2026 at the CSMVS museum in Mumbai, marking 25 years since the first Resurgence show of 2007–08, and a change in the craft's reputation: Bhanani says what has changed most is perception.

Another change is in the dye-pots. Artisans moved away from synthetic dyes after health concerns and returned to natural dyes, though researchers warn that excess iron in groundwater is a threat to Ajrakh dyeing. If you visit, buy from a workshop that explains its process, and treat the stories you hear as the work of families who lost people, homes and a river.