Celebrating 250 years of heritage in Lucknow: Chikankari, the timeless poetry in thread

Every celebrity’s visit to Lucknow is incomplete without exploring its iconic chikankari products where tradition, art and culture come alive in every embroidered thread. Lucknow’s world-renowned chikankari embroidery is a symbol of India’s rich textile heritage.

Intricately handwoven by skilled artisans, chikan garments are celebrated globally for their elegance and craftsmanship.

Unlike many world embroideries that dazzle with colour, beads or mirrors, chikankari whispers elegance. Traditionally worked in white thread on light fabrics like muslin, cotton or georgette, its charm lies in subtle texture rather than flashy embellishment. Each stitch is a gentle imprint of heritage—refined, understated, and deeply intricate.The name ‘chikan’ derives from the Persian word ‘chikaan’, meaning drapery or embroidery. Legend credits Mughal Empress Noor Jahan with bringing this art to India. Her attendant Bismillah later settled in Lucknow’s Khadra locality, sowing the seeds of this timeless tradition. Today, Khadra and nearby Meethi Khichdi remain vibrant hubs of chikankari.Anthropologist Nadeem Hasnain says: “It is believed that the Begums of Awadh learned the art of chikankari from their attendants.

Although its royal patronage declined with the fall of the nawabs, the craft did not fade. Those who depended on this for their livelihood have continued the practice.”Historian Ravi Bhatt presents two schools of thought—one aligning with the royal narrative, and another suggesting that the embroidery began with royals and spread to aristocrats and eventually to the masses. Bhatt adds that while chikankari is practised across India, in Lucknow it has matured into a refined art form, with artisans once spending over a year on a single garment.Himanshu Bajpai, a local dastango , says: “To credit only the royals would ignore the housewives and anonymous women who carried this legacy forward through their sheer resilience.” Often referred to as “ chhattis taanko ka khel ”—the game of 36 stitches— chikankari comprises an exquisite range of techniques. Foundational stitches like tepchi , bakhiya , hool and the lace-like jaali form the skeleton, while decorative ones — murri , phanda , ghas patti , bulbul chashm , and others — add flesh and soul.As poet Rahi Masoom Raza once wrote: “Yeh Lucknow ki chikan, yeh zaree ki shaam-o-saber, Har ek taar mein sau baar uljhe taar-e-nazar.”(Look at the chikan and the zardozi of Lucknow as if the vision gets entangled in every thread)Master artisans like Munne Mirza, Hassu Khan and Laddan brought global acclaim to the craft. Ustad Fayyaz Khan, the first man to receive the National Award in 1965, revolutionised the art with his microfine embroidery.

In 1970, Hasan Mirza, fondly called Panke Babu, introduced the Anokhi style, where stitches were so fine that they left no imprint on the reverse side—a near-magical feat.The process of crafting a chikan garment remains intimate and painstaking. As explained by dealer Vinay Khanna, fine fabrics from Surat or Mumbai are first printed with block designs. Artisans, often in rural homes, then hand-embroider these patterns using cotton, silk or ankle thread.

Once completed, garments are washed, checked and tailored—a cycle that can take weeks or even months.Veteran seller Javed Maksood laments the slow fading of rare techniques like murri , now mastered only by elderly women.“Many younger artisans prefer quicker stitches, but the old forms still define our identity,” he says with a mix of pride and concern.In a world chasing fast fashion, chikankari stands as a quiet rebellion—handmade, heartfelt, and rooted.

Every piece is more than cloth; it’s a story of survival, artistry, and devotion. In these tangled threads lies the legacy of Lucknow, a city that breathes through its embroidery, and a craft that continues to stitch the past into the present with timeless elegance.Fancy, free of frillsIn the signature of UP’s handicraft splashed all over the tradition-driven fashion industry, the subtlest stitch is of chikankari, which is present widely but blends in only as delicately as its patterns.

Raking in Rs 2,800 crore in the 2024-25 financial year, the handicraft has made steady strides, but never fought too hard for space.“In spite of its acceptance nationwide and up to a sizeable extent worldwide, chikankari has maintained its muted poise probably because its delicate design, pattern and work don’t blind the eye or make a photographic statement,” says Bina Tripathi, a National Institute of Fashion Technology passout, adding, “In this day and age of reels and social media posts, chikankari is more admired for its exquisite grace than noticed in pictures.

”Mohammad Shariq, whose platform, Rumi chikan, caught browsers’ attention instantly, says, the art has remained a silent charmer. The classic chikan being embroidery with white thread on a white fabric and patterns like murri , tepchi , phanda , hool and zanjeera have for long taken a bow for the sheer artistry, so it was a departure from tradition when the embroidery began to embellish coloured and then, even printed fabric.

Next came fusion with other handicraft forms like zari , zardozi and Banarasi weaves. Artisans, to whom the craft has been passed down generations and over centuries, are from Barabanki, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao and even from not-so-close-to-Lucknow, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur and Amethi.Online entrepreneur Zainab details the trade in figures, saying, “Though it comprises only about 12% of the total sale, online sale figures have grown.

Of this, about 60% is raked in by direct-to-customer channels, while e-commerce giants take the remaining 40% share of online sales. The presence of chikan garments is ubiquitous. Be it Chandini Chowk, Lajpat Nagar and Sarojini Nagar markets in Delhi, or the Colaba, Bandra bazaars in Mumbai, shops retailing chikan are doing brisk business in Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune and a host of other cities across the country.”But retail shops and online trade are co-existing with absolutely no conflict of interests, as customers have their own reason for choosing where or whom to buy from. The online trend found its beginnings in the Covid-induced lockdown but it stayed much later, growing from strength to strength. Smart big-town players took control of the trade, working out practical, feasible and fruitful logistics and besides making huge profits have done major service to the growth of the industry.“Unlike Banarasi embroidery and several other handicraft, chikan never found a custodian brand, hence, it has remained away from hype and hoopla,” says Ali Raik, associated with a govt recognised export house.Small-time entrepreneurs in the city, including housewives, meanwhile, have created a well-oiled network, though there is no way anybody can quantify their revenue and they are tight-lipped about it too.

They are well stocked with ample variety and are flourishing on the strength of efficient courier support. Customers could be from anywhere in the country and some from even abroad.Among connoisseurs, chikankari never needed introduction across the northern and eastern region, with chikan saree s and kurta s, especially the Bengali kurta with a lapel on the right side finding as many takers in Bengal as in and around Lucknow.

Yesteryear Mumbai films with Lakhnavi backdrop enrobed stars in chikan-embroidered attires which impressed all but were noticed mostly by the discerning because of the subtle design.In the 1990s, high profile designers who had achieved glory on the global ramp struck gold when they brought their uniquely tailored clothes to Lucknow for embroidery by the chikan karigar s. But even as the success story was growing, they were in for a rude shock when they found their precious designs flooding the local market, much before their debut with fanfare in high profile fashion shows.Wiser by experience, the cash-flushed designers set up their own workshops in which all embroidery was done in fortress-like confines, lest the design leaked.“Chikan work can mesmerise with its beauty but doesn’t have the quality to dazzle, hence, high profile couturiers have gone slow on play of this Lakhnavi craft,” says Zafar Siddiqui, an exporter of clothing and upholstery. “Another reason is that it is a painstaking craft and a single kurta may take the artisan 15 to 20 days to complete, so, it is now only once in a while that they decide to throw in chikan art as they plan their next line of clothing,” he adds.On the flip side, duplication is marring standards, if not as much the profits. China, the omnipotent, has thrown up imitations that are cheaper and hard for the eyes of the uninitiated to detect. Machine-made and spurious chikan, produced faster and cheaper in Surat and Jaipur, is flying off the shelf.Try hiring a cycle rickshaw or auto from Hazratganj or Charbagh and instead of agreeing to take you to your destination, the puller/driver will coerce you to first visit a chikan shop.

“Shops lined up in the vicinity are convenient for visitors or stopover travelers to visit and they are stocked with cheap imitations. These shopkeepers give commissions as high as 40% to rickshaw wallahs for bringing them customers. This practice will eventually bring bad name to chikankari and make quality and standard deteriorate,” s ay s Nadeem, salesman in an Aminabad shop.