Chikankari is a form of embroidery achieved on cloth, that makes a very agreeable fashion statement, hundreds of years old. Chikan is derived from the Persian word chikeenthat means embroidered cloth. It was the Mughal emperor Jehangir’s wife who introduced the art in India and also furthered it in the Mughal courts. The art was taken up by Lucknow’s craftsmen, connoisseurs and entrepreneurs who made this form of art very much loved by all for its exquisite appearance.
The avadhi culture was on the ascendency with Nawab Asif-Ud-Daula shifting his capital from Faizabad to Lucknow in 1775. The 80 years that followed, witnessed the blooming of Avadhiart and culture in its domains.
By the time of the last nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s exile to Kolkata, Lucknow had already been hailed as “Paris of the orient”.Chikan was accomplished mainly on fine fabrics like Muslin, Cambric, glazed cambric and occasionally silk which was found to be fit for Chikankari. A universal demand for Chikankari was on the rise after two trade fairs that featured the art: Calcutta International Exhibition of 1883-84 and Indian and colonial Exhibition of 1886 both set Chikankari in the wide array of attractions for westerners in the east.
Chikan began as white embroidery on white cloth. Thereafter, several types of Chikankari evolved into existence, especially with the use of coloured threads on sheer fabric that gave Chikankari its several variants all well-known and highly sought after. Accounts of use of chikan in ancient India abound. As early as 3rd century BCE, do the tales of “flowered muslin” exist from the Greek ambassador to India, Megasthenes. Chikankari in recent times has incorporated additional embellishments such has Mukaish, Kamdani, Badla, Kamdani, Sequin, bead and mirror work which has lent the art an image of true national heritage.
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