Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh — the shadow work of the Nawabs
Chikankari is the most delicate embroidery tradition in India — a white-on-white hand embroidery technique developed in Lucknow under the patronage of the Nawabs of Awadh in the 18th century. The word Chikankari is believed to derive from the Persian word chikan, meaning delicate embroidery. The technique involves embroidering white thread on a white or light-coloured fabric — typically fine cotton, muslin, or georgette — to create patterns that are visible only through the play of light and shadow on the raised or pierced stitches. The result is a garment of extraordinary subtlety and refinement — a garment that reveals itself slowly, the more carefully you look.
Chikankari uses over thirty individual stitch types, each with its own name and its own visual character. The most characteristic are the shadow work stitches — stitches worked on the reverse of the fabric that create a shadowed, translucent effect visible from the front. The jaali stitch creates a fine mesh of pierced fabric that resembles lacework. The murri stitch creates tiny raised dots. The phanda creates flat, rounded embossed shapes. Each stitch requires a specific needle, a specific thread tension, and a specific technique that takes years of practice to master. The finest Chikankari artisans are women who have been embroidering since childhood, inheriting the technique from their mothers and grandmothers.
The Chikankari tradition is concentrated in the old city of Lucknow — particularly in the mohallas of Chowk and Yahiyaganj — where thousands of women embroiderers work from home, passing cloth from household to household in a complex production chain. A single Chikankari saree can pass through the hands of a dozen different women — one for the outline stitch, one for the shadow work, one for the jaali, one for the finishing — each contributing her specialisation to the final garment. When you wear a Chikankari piece from Hastkaar-E-Khaas, you are wearing the combined skill of this entire community.
