Block Printing In A Courtyard

In a sandstone courtyard framed by carved arches, five women in saris press wooden blocks onto lengths of cotton stretched across long tables. Bowls of indigo and turmeric-yellow pigment sit within reach, along with a tray of used printing blocks stacked in relief patterns. A woman in blue works the near table, guiding a stamped border pattern along the cloth's edge, while behind her another rinses a block in a shallow dish. A stone well sits at the center of the yard, and printed dupattas and rugs hang drying from an upper balcony rail against the blue sky. Potted palms and a flowering vine soften the ochre walls, and finished cloth in matching paisley designs airs on a line above. Each finished length across the tables lines up its border motifs into one long, ready-to-cut sequence.