Dyeing

Dyeing

Introduction

Man has known colour since his creation. Nature has been like Art with an inexhaustible colour palette with beautiful compositions that inspire man to capture colour on cloths that adorn his body. Primitive man coloured the caves and smeared his body with pigments that he discovered. Ancient people extracted dye from roots, stems, leaves, fruits, berries, flowers, nuts, vegetables, minerals, animals and insects.

Colour plays a vital role in Human life. Nature’s colour changes with changing season. The colourful wall paintings of Ajanta during the first century AD(CE) and description of natural dyes in Atharvaveda provides evidence for the use of dyes in ancient period. People liked to colour everything they use, especially clothes. So they extracted colour from different natural sources such as plants, animals, insects and minerals and applied it on to fabric. The quest for new colours led to the discovery of synthetic dyes which later on became a full-fledged industry.