Sindhi Ajrak

Ajrak: A Living Canvas of Sindhi Culture

As the sun goes down at the farming community in Hala village, a man is stretching a piece of wet cotton. He applies a block carved into different shapes immersed in deep indigo dye into it and this is the initial form of what will become an Ajrak: not a fabric, but a living memory. This is the place of history and art of craft. It is the place where centuries of tales are kept in the form of pattern and dye.

More Than Fabric. It’s Identity.

Ajrak has never been merely a shawl and dupatta. To the Sindhis and all Pakistanis, it’s an identity. Whether you are puffed up with pride on Sindhi Cultural Day or over your shoulder at a wedding or gifted in love, it means something.

In our curated collection of pure Sindhi Ajrak based on historical motifs of Mohenjo-Daro to the bluey Saraiki Ajrak with its fine work, we have brought together unique pieces of hand block printed textile that were made by actual craftspeople in interior Sindh Bhitshah, Sukkur and Naushehro Feroze who still block-print each layer of fine fabric by hand using natural dyes.

Ajrak Beyond the Drapery – Dresses, Clutches, Bedsheets and Dupattas

The thing here is Ajrak did not remain as a prisoner of tradition. It evolved.

Ajrak dresses are now flowing gracefully at festivals. Young women adorned in the Ajrak dupattas take back pride in identity. Sleek Ajrak purses under arms used in weddings. And yea, even Ajrak bedsheets that transform bedrooms to places of heritage.

We rejoice in the versatility at Sindh Handicrafts. If you want a part of your home to present to a loved one in an entirely different country, have you been on a treasure hunt to find artisanal pieces to add to your personal wardrobe, or simply enjoy something classic to put on; these designs will have the flavour of Sindh and the touch of its people.

Story Telling Shades

Each of the colors of Ajrak has more than aesthetics to it:

• Blue Ajrak is a serene and connected indigo-dyed fabric woven in techniques that have gone through the line.
• Black Ajrak is assertive, classy, and ageless; it is a vivid contrast of tradition and royalty.
• Women frequently wear Red Ajrak and use it as a gift or during a celebration and it causes warmth, celebration, and love.
• And even our mirror work Ajrak for ladies gives a modern twist to tradition, mixing embroidery with culture.
  

Worn, Gifted, and Passed Down

A mix between the Sindhi Topi and an Ajrak and you are not simply supporting an outfit but you are wearing your pride. United together they have become some kind of symbols of unity, tradition and their cultural resistance. They are used with pride on the occasions of communal pride like Sindhi Cultural Day, in Pakistan and abroad.

What Makes Ours Different?

This is not a factory created simulation. At Sindh Handicrafts, each and every Ajrak is a physically handmade pledge by real people with real tales. They are never identical, since they are not made by machine-repeating human hands. We are in love with saving part of the soul underneath cloth: the hands of mother, the beat of block, and the colors of a down-to-earth.

You do not only get a product. You are helping the producers, their families and a whole culture that cannot and must not be abandoned.