Battala : woodcut relief prints produced in the Battala region of Calcutta. Although woodblock printing on fabrics has been in India for centuries, the paper adaptation of woodblock printing appeared relatively late, because of the late entry & early exit due to advent of lithography the Battala woodcut printing had a remarkably short run. The Battala woodcuts were printed on cheap newsprint like paper to keep the cost of these prints low. Because of the short run, cheap paper & humid conditions of the region very few of these prints have survived. In the early 19th Century, the Battala area became known for the prints, which typically had a religious or mystical theme. They made their first appearance in the 1820s as book illustrations; by the mid-19th century printmakers started printing smaller prints, which often represented Kālighāt painting. Demand for the prints began to decline with the introduction of colour lithography printing.
... venture is not in itself an ambitious one, as it purports only to provide a well-printed and beautifully illustrated edition of Krittibas for family reading. With this object the editor has taken the Battala prints of the Ramayan as his text and reproduced them with the necessary corrections and the omission of a few passages which offend modern ideas of decorum. Besides, the book is liberally illustrated ...
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