CHIKANKARI OF

UTTAR PRADESH
“The whispering whites became quietly symbolic of a
very
gracious and sophisticated way of life.”
 INTRODUCTION
• For centuries, this fine white tracery on
transparent white fabric has delighted the
heart of king and commoner alike.

• It is centered mainly in the northern

heartland of India, namely Lucknow, the
capital of a large state, called Uttar Pradesh.

• It is a complex and elegant craft that has

come down to us, evolving, over the years
into an aesthetic form of great beauty.
• Chikankari is at once, simple and elegant,
subtle and ornate. This heavy embroidery
intricately worked on fine white muslin
created a magical effect uniquely its own.

• The light embroidered fabric was most

appropriate for the heat and dust of the North
Indian summers.

• From the time of its inception, Chikan

garments spelt class and craft.
 HISTORY
• There are a number of tales about the
birth and development of this art.

The main ones include:

• Noorjehan
• Princess of Murshidabad
• Ustad Mohammad Shair Khan
• Megasthenes
 THE FABRIC
• Chikankari used the finest of white cotton fabric called
muslin or mulmul.

• This gossamer light muslin fabric has found mention in the

writings of many visitors to India, even as far back as the
3rd century B.C. Megasthenes writes about white flowered
muslin worn by the courtiers in the reign of Chandragupta
Maurya, which was subtle and rich in design and texture,
though colorless.

• Ancient Europe has been greatly enamored of Indian

fabrics from Greek and Roman times.

• So fine and delicate were the Indian fabrics that the

Romans romantically called them ‘textilli venti’ or woven
winds.
• A great deal of muslin was produced in and
exported from Bengal.
• Dacca was the main region where cotton
was cultivated due to the high humidity of
the region, which prevented the delicate
thread from breaking on contact with the air.
• The cotton spun was very white since the
Brahmaputra and the Ganges Rivers have
bleaching properties. The chikan workers in
Bengal used this fine muslin for embroidery.
• Some very fine muslin was also produced in
and around Lucknow.
• During the seventeenth century the East India
Company decided to send two factors or employees
to live in Lucknow and buy bales of ‘dereabauds’, a
kind of muslin which was made in the Hasanganj area
of Lucknow on the northern bank of the Gomti.’

• The two/three categories of fine, white fabric that are

used for chikancraft, namely Addhi, Tanzeb and
Girant. These were the traditional chikan fabrics. Their
sheer texture was just right for the fine white
needlework

• Currently also done on cambray, mulmul, chiffon,

georgettes, nets and other similar sheer fabrics
 THE TECHNIQUE
There are three types of Chikankari stitches

1) Jali work It is done in the form of net

design spread all over the fabric.

2) Flat stitches The flat stitches are delicate and very

fine stitch. It gives the look as if the embroidery is
itself the texture of the garment.

3) Embossed stitches This stitch provides

beaded type of look to the garment.
 BASIC STICHES
The Basic Stitches are 6 in number & all except one
are common to other forms of embroidery.

 TEPCHI : Running Stitch. Outlines are worked with it.

 BUKHIA : Herringbone stitch done on wrong side, giving a shadow
effect.
 PECHANI : Its a variation of running stitch.
 KHATAO : Flat style of chikankari. Very minute appliqués .
 MURRI : Knotted style of chikankari. It is a rice shaped stitch produced
by satin stitch.
 PHANDA : Resembles millet and gives a raised effect . It is a French
knot.
 JALI WORK : Gives an effect of open mesh or net like appearance .
Produced by pushing hard the warp and weft threads that are held by
button hole stitch.
 DHOOM : Its a flat style of chikankari.Very similar to Sidhi Bhakia
except that it is much closer packed and there is more criss-crossing
of individual threads.
 Some other stitches are Ghasphool, Katbalda, Channa ki Patti,
Kangan, Bijli, Gitti, Janjira, Kamdani, Back stitch etc.
 DERIVATIVES
These are 5 in number four based on tepchi & one on rahet. They are
known as tepchi pechni, pashni, cutting or cutwork, balda & dohra
bakhia.

• Murri Work: A major feature of chikan is the use of a specific

formation of stitchery which in itself creates a small embossed leaf
or petal. There are 7 such stitches known as phunda, mundi murri,
Nukili murri ,mur mora, kauri, boot patti,chikan ki ghans.

• Pulled work (Jali): The pulled work stitches of chikan are all
worked from the back of the fabric with a fine string thread able to
withstand tension . This is usually drawn from the selvedge of the
fabric.

• Appliqué (Khatao): A rare & very difficult technique of chikan is the

appliqué work known as khatao. Two pieces of line cotton are
superimposed & the edges of the minute design are held by tiny
hem stitches . The top layer is then cut away , leaving the pattern
in double fabric . This is used as the sole technique in some work
or when combined with stitchery for seams.
MOTIFS
 APPLICATION
To begin with, chikancraft was used primarily to embellish garments. For the
men here
were long flowing angarkhas and chogas (tunics), Achkans and kurtas, topis,
skullcaps or chau goshias. The men also used scarves or cummerbands
(sashes). For the ladies, chikankari was used to adorn Lehengas and odhnis
(long skirts and veils), kurtas and angarkhas (Tunics), prayer cloths and
scarves. Ensembles of the most incredible beauty were created with this subtle
white on white embroidery, translating its very simplicity into an exotic fashion
statement.
Chikancraft did not limit itself to garments alone. Chikan was basically a way of
life. It permeated the court and entered the homes and domestic life of the
people. It could satisfy the fashionable as well as the domestic instinct .It
shifted from garments to the domestic line seamlessly. The Lakhnawis used
chikan to grace their homes in the form of bedspreads, pillowcovers, palanquin
curtains and drapes. With the advent of the British, however, the application of
chikan increased manifold. Soon it was used in table covers, runners, mats and
napkins, tray and tea-cozy covers. The English simply loved the flowing white
drapes embellished with Chikan work. It soon became a way of life for them. In
fact, in the 19th century, under the British rule, Chikan was given great impetus.
It provided excellent trade opportunity for them. They quickly replaced the fine,
old Daccai muslin with British mill-made voiles, which were imported in large
quantities.
 CHIKANKARI TODAY
With the passage of time, there was a qualitative
degeneration in chikancraft. It began with firstly a change in
the fabric. The Daccai muslins were no longer affordable.
They were replaced by inexpensive mill manufactured
voiles and terivoiles. Secondly, the fine and complex
stitches of pure chikan were relegated to memory and
simpler, less ornate stitches were now used,
which were actually crass reproductions of the earlier
stitches. In fact, at this time a lot of shadow work was
introduced into chikan and though it was not originally part
of the repertoire of the chikan stitches, today it passes for
chikan.
Once the process of commercialization set in, the thrust was on
quantity and not quality. There are today approximately one
million people involved in the Chikan industry, working at
various levels of production. There are nine stages in the
production of a single piece, namely:

1 purchase of fabric
2 cutting
3 stitching
4 printing
5 embroidering
6 washing
7 finishing
8 packaging
9 marketing

The chikankar, therefore does not work in isolation. There is a

whole group of people who are involved in the production
process, even though embroidery is the most significant one.
Unfortunately, there is a gap between the
embroiderer and the market. This is
bridged by the middlemen who get the
embroidery done by the chikankars at very
low wages and markets it at a good
margin for themselves. This has caused
much grief and deprivation to the poor
chikankars who have been terribly
marginalized by the middlemen and
brokers. Thus commercialization has not
only exploited the chikanworker, it has
also led to complete deterioration in the
quality of the work.
Today, there a handful of craftsmen and women who
practice the true chikankari, but they are almost a
vanishing breed. The central and state government is
making valiant efforts to sustain their craft by opening
workshops where chikankars are trained to produce
quality work, if not exactly reproduce the earlier aesthetic
glory of chikancraft.’ State government organizations like
the U.P. Export Corporation and the U.P. Handicraft
Board are trying to ensure fair wages to the chikan
workers, and prevent the exploitation of the chikankar
but their efforts do not cover
the entire gamut of the chikan workforce