Rajasthan in India is famed for their tie & dye works. Tie and dye shawls in wool with beautiful embroidery and mirror work from the craftsmen of Rajasthan are very famous worldwide. These shawls are world famous for their craftsmanship and exquisite designs.

Tie and dye is one of the most widely accepted and traditional methods of printing shawls in India. Bandhani or Bandhej is a common tie & dye pattern practiced for making shawls in Rajasthan.

Tie & dye shawls are mostly handmade and are crafted in a wide range of fabric like wool, cotton, silk, etc. Tie-dye is considered as the simplest dye-resistant technique and is widely used for making shawls and other fashion accessory. The process involves dyeing only selected parts of the cloth, which yields multi-colored designs and shades in the shawl.

Bandhej, commonly known as bandhini is yet another popular technique of shawl making practiced in Rajasthan. This is another fine art of tie-dye printing. Muslin, handloom or silk cloth as well as cotton is used for making bandhej shawls. Ordinary thread for tying, starch and colors for dyeing are amongst other raw materials used in Bandhej work.

Initially vegetable dyes were used for the process, but chemical dyes are becoming very popular these days. Bandhej requires very simple tools like wooden blocks for marking designs and some simple tools are employed for dyeing.

Though the techniques of tie-dye and bandhini are also practiced in Gujarat, the process varies in both these states. There is also variation in the design, pattern and craftsmanship in both the regions.

The process of making bandhni (tie and dye) varies in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Even the patterns, designs and craftsmanship vary in both the regions.