Batik facts for kids

Batik is a special way to decorate cloth.

Batik is a unique way of decorating cloth using wax and dye. It's like drawing with wax to protect parts of the fabric from the dye. This amazing art form first became popular in Indonesia. You can also find beautiful batik cloth in places like Malaysia, Japan, China, India, and many countries in Africa.

What is Batik?
A Look at Batik's History
How is Batik Made?
Images for kids
See also

What is Batik?

The word "batik" comes from the Javanese language in Indonesia, and it means "to dot" or "to write with dots." It's a method where artists use hot wax to draw patterns on fabric. When the cloth is dyed, the wax stops the dye from reaching certain areas. This creates cool designs and patterns!

A Look at Batik's History

People have been making batik for a very long time, over 2000 years! We've found old examples of batik in places like the Far East, Middle East, and India. It's thought that this craft traveled from Asia to the islands of Malay Archipelago and then west.

Batik really became famous in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java. Here, artists became very skilled at making detailed and beautiful batik. They often decorated their cloth with pictures of trees, animals, and even people playing flutes or hunting.

Today, batik is still a very important art form in Indonesia. It's part of their ancient traditions and has been taught for hundreds of years. It's also becoming more popular around the world. Every culture that makes batik has its own special styles and designs.

How is Batik Made?

Making batik is a step-by-step process that takes a lot of care and patience.

A special pen called a tjanting is used to draw with wax.

Preparing the Cloth

First, the cloth needs to be clean and ready. It's usually washed and dried. Then, the artist lightly draws the design onto the fabric with a pencil.

Drawing with Wax

Next, the artist uses a special tool called a tjanting (pronounced "chan-ting"). This is a pen-like tool with a small spout that holds hot, melted wax. The artist carefully draws over the pencil lines with the hot wax. The wax acts like a shield, protecting those parts of the cloth from the dye.

An artist carefully drawing a batik pattern with a tjanting.

Dyeing the Fabric

After the wax is applied, the cloth is dipped into a dye bath. The parts covered in wax won't absorb the dye, so they keep their original color. The parts without wax will change color.

Repeating the Process

To add more colors, the artist repeats the process. They might add more wax to protect newly dyed areas, then dye the cloth again in a different color. This can be done many times to create colorful and complex patterns.

Removing the Wax

Once all the dyeing is done, the wax is carefully removed. This is usually done by boiling the cloth or scraping the wax off. When the wax is gone, the beautiful, colorful patterns are revealed!

Some very traditional batik, called written batik, is made entirely by hand using only the tjanting. This can take a very long time, sometimes up to a year for one piece of cloth, because the artist draws on both sides and dyes it many times.

Images for kids

Jlamprang or ceplok batik motif of clothes of 13th-century East Javanese Prajnaparamita statue resembles batik, National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta
An old Javanese batik sarong from around 1871.
Making written batik (batik tulis) by drawing with wax using a canting in Java.
Making stamped batik (batik cap) using a special stamp tool called a cap in Java.
Making painted batik (batik lukis) with a Rangda design using a brush.
The different parts of an Indonesian batik cloth.
A typical inland batik with deep, earthy colors and traditional patterns from Solo.
A typical coastal batik with bright colors and patterns from many cultures, like this one from Semarang (1880).
Princess Raden Ayu Mursilah wearing Kebaya and Batik from the Keraton Yogyakarta Hadiningrat, around 1870.
A modern men's batik shirt in the Solo style.
Leaders wearing batik at the APEC 2013 meeting in Bali.
The Museum Batik Keraton Yogyakarta is inside the Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat complex.
The Museum Batik Danar Hadi in Solo City.
The Museum Tekstil in Jakarta.
A batik craftsman making batik in Malaysia. Malaysian batik often has floral patterns and light colors.
A batik craftswoman brush painting with wax in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
A Kawung batik pattern on a Mahakala statue from a temple in Singhasari, East Java (1275-1300).
A Kawung batik pattern on a Nandishvara statue (foreground, 13th century).
A batik pattern on a Durga Mahishasuramardini statue from Singhasari (1275-1300).
The first pattern drawn with a pencil for batik.
The "nembok" process, a traditional way to make batik tulis (handmade batik).
Batik craftswomen in Java hand-marking patterns on batik tulis cloth with canting tools.
A collection of cap copper printing blocks used for traditional batik patterns.
Applying wax using cap (copper plate stamps).
Dyeing the cloth in color.
Two Javanese women making batik cloths in a village in Java, between 1870 and 1900.
Javanese women making batik in Java, between 1870 and 1900.
A Javanese man in court dress, from The History of Java by Thomas Stamford Raffles (1817).
A Javanese chief in his everyday clothes, from The History of Java by Thomas Stamford Raffles (1817).
A Javanese man in war dress, from The History of Java by Thomas Stamford Raffles (1817).
A Javanese man from the lower class, from The History of Java by Thomas Stamford Raffles (1817).
A Javanese ronggeng dancer, from The History of Java by Thomas Stamford Raffles (1817).
Sultan Hamengkubuwono VI, King of Yogyakarta Sultanate (1855–1877), wearing royal batik clothes.
Pakubuwono X, the King of Surakarta Sunanate in kain batik, around 1910.
The Ratoe Kedaton, the main wife of Hamengkubuwono V of Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, wearing batik, around 1865.
Princes and princess wearing batik at Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, around 1870.
A Bedhaya dance performance at Mangkunegaran royal palace in Solo, Java, in January 1921.
Topeng dance performance from Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia.
King Duryodana in a Wayang wong performance in Taman Budaya Rahmat Saleh, Semarang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia.
Golek Ayun-Ayun Dance performance with a Gamelan Ensemble at Bangsal Sri Manganti Keraton Yogyakarta.
A Javanese Royal wedding at Mangkunegaran royal palace, January 1921.
The Kacar-kucur ceremony, where the groom pours rice and coins into the bride's scarf, around 1960.
The Panggih ceremony, where the bride and groom meet on their wedding day.
Batik is used in a traditional Javanese wedding ceremony.
Smiling students wearing batik.
Nelson Mandela wearing batik.
A Javanese man wearing a typical modern batik shirt.
An elderly Sundanese woman wearing a batik sarong and headdress.