The craftsmen believe ritual of Bhatti-pujan post Pitrapaksh helps them to purify their soul from sins of jeev hatya & connects them spiritually with their ancestors & their profession
Pushyamitra is a first generation craft entrepreneur and eco print artist. Prior to start venturing into rural handicrafts business he has gained experience in marketing diverse portfolios like banking products, education and events.
While working extensively on his thesis work, learnt about the different traditional hand block printing techniques of India like Ajrakh print, Bagh print, Dabu printit and Nandana print mainly practiced by rural craftsmen. It helped him to understand and identify the problems in marketing of rural handicraft products faced by rural craftsmen and encouraged him to start venture called “EcoFab – Eco clothing for healthy living.
His work with block printing and handloom involves rare combination of traditional and innovation in terms of using natural dyes and threads. He works with both traditional motif and introduced some contemporary motif in block printing. He innovated a new block printing technique with Tarapur printers of Madhya Pradesh now known as “Puru print”.
He played a pivotal role in reviving use of manjishtha roots natural dye in traditional hand block printing. Before 19th century India was the biggest exporter of natural dyes and especially Indian madder was known for its vibrant shades of red.