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Among many Indian embroidery designs, Chikan always has a special place in my heart. Not because of its beauty, but more so because of its history! The legend says that there was a particular king who had many wives and the youngest of wives found it difficult to draw his attention towards her. Somebody advised her to make an article in such a manner that it would be difficult to emulate. She made a cap with a peculiar stitch form of embroidery design. This had never been done before and the king was very happy. Tradition has it that the teaching was percolated down to the masses and this became famous as a form of hand embroidery art that would never leave a person penniless, since it appeared to sell easily. Even today, we have specialised workers who have mastered this art.
Chikan embroidery designing is a very laborious and time consuming task. (The craftsmen are trained for 15 to 20 years and sometimes it takes 10 to 15 days to make an outfit with hand embroidery as they fill in the designs with threads with detail work). This is why Chikan is so expensive as compared to machine embroidery. But it is worth it as you really do feel like a queen when you wear it – a Chikan suit is a regal treasure in any fashion connoisseur’s wardrobe! Really, the great thing about this form of embroidery is that it never goes out of fashion and it suits women of all ages. If you are going to invest in a few pairs of elegant wear, try adding chikan to your wardrobe. And before the men (in your heart and home) start feeling left out, they too can wear this form of embroidery – get a Chikan shirt for them!
Some excellent chikan embroidery designs can be viewed at Lucknow Chikan House.
I was surprised and happy to see an organisation called Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA, which means “service” in hindi). Its only objective is to improve the living standards of 5000 poverty stricken crafts women. This organisation has become internationally known for the famous Chikan products that it exports to various parts of the world.
In case you want to hear about the history of Lucknow and Lucknowi chikan, please see City Details.
I used to personally sell this through word of mouth a few years ago (when I had some time in my hands) and the sales were very quite exciting due to the unique touch that each particular form of embroidery had. The famous works of chikan are shadow, murri and taipchi.
I would be delighted to have your views on chikan and hand embroidery art and also maybe share some of your views on other unique forms of hand embroidery designs.
