PM Modi gifts hand-carved box with Rogan painting to Japanese counterpart Kishida

Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gifted a wooden hand-carved box with Rogan painting to his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida during his meeting with him in Tokyo, Japan.

Rogan painting is an art of cloth printing practised in the Kutch District of Gujarat. In this craft, paint made from boiled oil and vegetable dyes is laid down on fabric using either a metal block (printing) or a stylus (painting). The craft nearly died out in the late 20th century, with Rogan painting being practised by only one family.

PM Modi had earlier gifted a traditional Rogan painting to the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II during his three-day Europe tour this month.

The word ‘Rogan’ comes from Persian, meaning varnish or oil. The process of making Rogan painting is very laborious and skilful. Artists place a small amount of this paint paste into their palms.

At room temperature, the paint is carefully twisted into motifs and images using a metal rod that never comes in contact with the fabric. Next, the artisan folds his designs into a blank fabric, thereby printing its mirror image. In effect, it is a very basic form of printing. Previously the designs were simple and rustic in nature but with the passage of time, the craft has become more stylized and now is regarded as a high art form.

This craft is a form of surface embellishment and practised for over a hundred years, but now by only a single family in Nirona, Kachchh. A special paste made of castor is used in this craft. Castor seeds are hand-pounded to extract the oil and turned into a paste by boiling, Colored powder diluted in water is then mixed with this.

The pastes of different colours yellow, red, blue, green, black and orange are stored in earthen pots with water to prevent them from drying up. The kalam, an iron rod, flat at both ends, is used to paint half the design with the support of the fingers of the left hand. It is then impressed on the other half of the cloth by pressing the two halves together. As they were inexpensive substitutes for embroidered textiles, they were popular alternative textiles for clothing.

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