Choose Chikan for Cool Summers...

With summer fast approaching, We bring home the delicate art of Chikankari, straight from the land of the Nawabs When the sky shows its azure hue and summer's in the air, the next thing that comes to mind after chilled lemonades are those cool Lucknowi kurtas. These hand-embroidered, loose-fitting garments are ideal for sultry days.

India has nurtured numerous genres of embroidery, specialised by craftsmen in different parts of the country. Lucknow has its share too with its famous tradition of Chikankari. The word Chikan derives its name from the Persian word, Chakeen, which means rendering of delicate patterns on fabric.

It is said that Noorjehan, the beautiful wife of the Mughal emperor, Jehangir, introduced the craft to the region. Chikankari has since evolved and attained its glory and perfection in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The work became popular in a number of important cities of the Indo-Gangetic plain such as Delhi, Agra, Rampur, Benaras, Patna and Gaya. But the supremacy of Lucknow remained virtually unchallenged. Chikankari later flourished under the patronage of the Nawabs and was perfected into a fine art form by the local craftsmen. Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah, the ruler of Awadh, is known to have been a great patron of art and craft, and families of craftsmen from as far as Hyderabad came and settled here and produced exquisite works of art.

Chikan work has a certain grace and elegance about it, ensuring its constant presence through the fads. Whether draped as a ubiquitous dupatta or a pastel tinged kurta, chikan fabrics remain unrivalled in their almost ethereal simplicity. Regularity and evenness of stitches, combined with very fine thread-knots are the highlights of Chikan work. The motifs usually include floral and geometric patterns with stitches either even with the fabric or raised with designs, creating a mesh pattern. The different varieties of Chikan stitches include tepchi, bakhia, zanjira, phanda and murri.
The embroidery itself is complicated and time-consuming. The first stage includes printing patterns on the chosen fabric with wooden blocks or sketching it manually. Next, the stitches are decided according to the design. Then, the craftsmen get to work with the cloth stretched by a wooden frame or Karchop. These dreams are spun usually in ill-lit, dingy rooms where huddled artisans carry on their daily task. Yards of fine fabric are worked on with nimble fingers, threads drawn from one side to the other, creating mesmerising designs on their way to and fro.
The designs depend for its effect on the variety of stitches used and different grades of threads, the lace effect, the opaque fillings and the subtlety or boldness of outline and details. Open work is one of the most beautiful styles of chikan work. It is the effect of thread work achieved without drawing out any thread, although it seems so. Tiny, raised flowers done in what seems to be French-knots are balanced by the flat stem-stitch and large areas of open work to prevent either a crowded or too scattered appearance.
A variation of the chikan work is the bakhia or shadow work. Here, the embroidery is done from the wrong side of the fabric and the design is rendered in the herringbone style. The shadow of the thread is seen through the cloth on the right side. To give a richer appearance, the designs are outlined with tiny backstitches on the right side over the shadow.
A similar effect is created by cutting out tiny flowers and leaves in the same material as the basic fabric and then applying them on the wrong side. The work is done so dextrously that the turned-in edges of the cut pieces are scarcely visible to the casual eye. The designs change every other month, according to the dictates of the market, with colours to go with the season.
The finished products, after being washed and starched, eventually arrive at city boutiques and posh upmarket showrooms. Chikankari has evolved as an important commercial activity for the city today. Hundreds of karkhanas or workshops are scattered about in the labyrinthine lanes of old Lucknow locality. It is one of the few arts that seem to have survived when so many have dwindled away without a trace.