subject: State Of The Industry And Artisans Of Lucknow Chikan [print this page] Lucknow Chikan, predominately, has been amongst the vast and most exquisitely worked upon treasures of India. It has taken India to such heights of depth where the "Taj Mahal" undoubtedly reached leaving no stone unturned for the lovers of its creativity and enchanting beauty. The artistic craft of Chikankari is quite distinctive and invariably forms an important and integral part of life in the beautiful city of Lucknow. The rich needlework decorated the garments made from the silk fabrics of gossamer and muslin for the elite. The magnanimous love and hard work of the Lucknow artisans created vivid designs on fabrics that were reminiscent of sheer grace and livelihood. They captured the intense beauty of intricate linings and patterns of marble 'jaali' with inlay creation of the Mughal era monuments which helped them develop this indigenous kind of artistic hand embroidery called Chikan.
The traditional artistry of Chikankari has come down from families who served the elite rulers. The artistic craftsmen with passion and devotion worked upon angarkha or topi-palla, for their respectful masters, creating lifelike designs that were unmatched in their charm and beauty. With the decline in patronage and encouragement, economic insecurities forced these men to look for more less worthy and lucrative employment as the craft then passed on to the womenfolk part of the community, as a source of substantial earning for the whole family. Gradually with time, it became the main source of livelihood for the entire family. In today"s time, it is abstractly in the hands of rural Muslim women and still a significant worked upon industry in Lucknow.
Chikan embroidery in Lucknow is profoundly the biggest artisan clump of India with about 2.5 lacs mystique artisans of chikan embroidery associated with this clump cluster. Knowingly, these artisans from other fields such as Stitching, Cutting, Hand Block Textile Printing, Jali work and Washer workers are also a part of this huge clump cluster. The wholesome numbers of artisans associated with this Chikankari clump cluster, other than chikan work artisans, are about 5000 in their entirety. These artisans of Chikankari are scattered intensively in and around Lucknow within the radius of about 125 km. The districts covered are Barabanki, Hardoi etc. Some villages include few artisans of Sultanpur, Raibareily and Faizabad. The artisans of these clump clusters were mainly from rural areas and mostly housewives doing such work as their only source of their personal income. This Lucknow Chikan industry has not only provided employment to about 2.5 lacs wholesome artisans of different majestic crafts but also to people from non-craft base, earning their struggling livelihood by associating themselves unwillingly with this beautiful craft.
In need, these days, there are many relevant NGOs working for the utmost welfare of these majestic artisans in the clump cluster. They have implemented numerous schemes of Government (Central or State) departments. These NGOs have established CDC (Craft Development Centers) in the required areas, which enormously helped the artisans" directly. One and the very prominent (famous in this field) NGO has done such magnificent work and development in this field of Hand Embroidery is SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association) and other NGOs have also contributed significantly in this clump cluster with the help of O/o the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) for its futuristic worthiness only for the craft and its artisans to remain present as a present to the world as a whole.
