Chikankari is usually described as an embroidery with 32 stitches. The number is traditional rather than strictly fixed — some karigars count 36, some fold variants together and reach 30 — but the vocabulary itself is real and precise. Each stitch has a name, a specific technique, and a job it does within a design.
Understanding this vocabulary changes how you buy. Once you can recognise a murri from a phanda, you can read a garment: how dense the work is, how much time it took, and whether the price is fair.
The six foundational stitches
Almost every chikankari garment is built from these. If you learn only six, learn these.
Tepchi
A long running stitch worked on the front of the fabric, usually with six strands. The needle passes over roughly four threads and picks up one, forming a continuous line.
Tepchi is the skeleton. It outlines the design before other stitches fill it, and on lighter pieces it stays visible as the final finish. Fast, economical, and the reason light-work kurtas cost less — a tepchi-only garment takes a fraction of the time of a bakhiya piece.
Where you will see it: outlines, simple vine patterns, everyday cotton kurtas.
Bakhiya
The famous one. Bakhiya is shadow work, and it defines the chikankari look more than any other stitch.
It is worked from the reverse of the fabric in a herringbone pattern. The dense crossing threads on the back show through the sheer cloth as a soft shadow on the front, with the fabric weave sitting over it. The result is depth — the motif appears to float beneath the surface rather than on it.
Two variants: ulti bakhiya, worked from the back and producing the classic shadow, and sidhi bakhiya, worked from the front as a flatter herringbone fill.
Where you will see it: large petals, leaves, any motif needing a solid but soft fill. A bakhiya-heavy piece is significantly more expensive than a tepchi one.
Hool
A fine eyelet. The karigar pierces the fabric with the needle, separates the threads to open a small round hole, then binds the edge with tiny stitches, usually in a single thread.
Where you will see it: the middle of floral motifs, often surrounded by ghaas patti petals.
Zanzeera
Chain stitch. A series of interlocking loops, each anchored by the next. Its job is definition — zanzeera runs as a final outline over an already-worked motif to sharpen its edge.
Rahet
A stem stitch worked in reverse, producing a solid line on the back of the fabric. Rarely used alone in its basic form. Its doubled version, dohra bakhiya, gives a bold outline.
Banarsi
A twisted stitch worked over roughly six threads, picking up two, with a characteristic slant that gives it a distinctive texture. One of the harder foundational stitches to execute cleanly.
Raised and knotted stitches
These create texture and dimension. They are slow, and their presence signals a more expensive garment.
Murri
A French knot elongated into a rice grain shape. The thread wraps around the needle and is laid down along the fabric to form a small oval.
Murri is one of the most labour-intensive stitches in the vocabulary, and the strongest indicator of a premium piece. A single flower centre may hold dozens of individual murri knots, each formed separately.
Phanda
A French knot shaped like a millet grain — smaller and rounder than murri, bound to the fabric by a very short stem. Quicker to execute than murri and more widely used. Both are knot stitches; murri is the elongated, more expensive cousin.
Darhi phanda
A dense cluster of phanda knots packed to fill a motif centre completely.
Dana
Small bead-like stitches producing a beaded surface texture.
Open work: jaali and its variants
Jaali is where chikankari separates itself from every other Indian embroidery tradition, and it is the clearest proof of hand production.
No thread is cut. The karigar uses the needle to push the warp and weft threads of the fabric apart, creating an opening, then binds the edges with tiny stitches to hold it permanently open. The result is a net effect achieved by displacing threads, not removing them.
This is why machines cannot reproduce it. A machine can embroider a net pattern, or a laser can cut holes, but neither pushes fabric threads apart and binds them.
Named jaali variants
- Sidhaur jaali — the standard square-mesh form
- Madrazi jaali — a finer, denser mesh
- Bulbul chashm — nightingale's eye, a small round opening
- Bank jaali — worked on a diagonal
- Makra jaali — a spider-web structure
- Hathkadi — a single line of jaali, effectively a row rather than a field
Where you will see it: yokes, sleeve panels, borders. Heavy jaali work on georgette sits at the top of the price range.
Leaf, grass and floral stitches
Ghaas patti
Blade-of-grass stitch. Short angled stitches forming pointed leaf shapes, usually worked in clusters radiating outward — typically around a hool centre, one of the most recognisable chikankari arrangements.
Pechni
A line stitch that wraps tepchi in a spiral, creating a raised, rope-like stem. Used for connecting stems between flowers and leaves.
Kauri
Shell or bud shaped, formed by joining two slim leaf shapes and leaving a gap in the centre, often filled with hathkadi.
Phool
The general floral stitch, referring to the floral motif construction itself rather than a single technique.
Dhania patti
Coriander-leaf stitch — small delicate leaves scattered as filler.
Circular and ornamental stitches
Keel and Kangan
Both are built on a turra, a round stud at the centre with tiny stitches worked around it. One ring of stitches is a keel; a second tier added over the first makes a kangan, named for a bangle. The combined form, keel kangan, is used for stems and detailing.
Meharki
A premium substitute for keel or kangan — circular, with a hole at the centre, structurally like a small dish. Its presence marks a fine piece.
Kaante
Tiny, tightly packed stitches used to outline another already-completed stitch. Since it decorates something already embroidered, kaante is a direct signal of premium work — nobody spends the time on a budget garment.
Kat
A premium replacement for pechni or balda, worked in dome-shaped designs enclosing a jaali centre. Resembles a line of very closely packed kaante.
Fine, linear and finishing stitches
Turpai
An extremely fine stitch that should read as a single thin thread on the fabric. Its refinement is the whole point.
Darzdari
A family of decorative stitches rather than one technique, with named variants including kohi darz, kamal darz, shankarpara darz, muchhi and singhada darz. Used to add density and texture to finished patterns.
Bijli
A short, sharp stitch resembling a lightning flash.
Balda
A raised outlining stitch, often replaced by kat on premium pieces.
Others
Sazi, karan, kapkapi, jora, bulbul, rozan and chanapatti are regional and less common stitches that appear on specialised or traditional pieces. Many karigars know them; fewer commissions call for them, and some are becoming genuinely rare.
What the stitch mix tells you about price
This is the practical payoff of learning the vocabulary.
| Stitch mix | Work level | Relative price |
|---|---|---|
| Tepchi only | Light | Lowest |
| Tepchi, ghaas patti, hool | Light to medium | Low |
| Bakhiya fills with zanzeera outlines | Medium | Mid |
| Murri or phanda clusters added | Medium to heavy | High |
| Jaali panels with kaante outlining | Heavy | Highest |
When you next look at a chikankari kurta, check three things: is there jaali, are there murri knots, and are motifs outlined with kaante. Any of the three means real time went into the garment.
Frequently asked questions
Are there really exactly 32 stitches in chikankari?
Thirty-two is the traditional count, but it is not rigid. Some karigars count 36 and others fold variants together to reach 30. The disagreement is over how finely to split closely related techniques, not over the vocabulary itself.
What is the difference between murri and phanda?
Both are knot stitches used for flower centres. Murri is elongated like a rice grain and takes longer to work. Phanda is smaller and rounder like a millet grain. Murri indicates a more expensive piece.
Which chikankari stitch is hardest to fake?
Jaali. Real jaali is made by separating fabric threads with a needle and binding the opening, with no threads cut. Machines can only imitate the appearance.
What is shadow work in chikankari?
Shadow work is bakhiya, embroidered from the reverse of the fabric in herringbone. The threads on the back show through sheer cloth as a soft shadow on the front.
Which stitches indicate expensive chikankari?
Murri, kaante, meharki, kat, and any jaali work. These are slow and are not used on mass-market pieces.
Every Paramount Chikan garment is hand-embroidered in Lucknow using these traditional stitches. Explore our chikankari kurtis, kurtas, or read our guide to identifying original chikankari.