161. Lucknow Zardozi

Lucknow Zardozi an embroidery with gold wire, is a process of wrapping metal or precious metal wires around a silk thread and sewing it in floral patterns onto the cloth. The original process, which is known as “Kalabatun”, made use of silk threads wrapped in real gold or silver; the thread was subsequently sewn onto different fabrics, and then embellished with gold threads, spangles, seed pearls, wires, beads, sequins etc

In the times of the nawabs, zardozi was used to decorate tapestries and wall hangings. Even elephants and horses were covered with heavy cloths adorned with zardozi. In that era, this form of embroidery was considered a luxury, since it could only be done on heavier fabrics like velvet, satin and silk. Therefore, only the royalty could afford it. It was regarded as a symbol of opulence.

Image Source : economictimes.com

Zardozi is intricate work, requiring the handling of sharp metallic wires and semi-precious stones with acute focus and speed. The fabric, which in earlier times used to be organza, has been replaced with new blended textiles, more suited to pulling and stretching. 

A wooden frame, or adda, is used for stretching the fabric, for the technique and ease of embroidering. The designs are drawn on tracing paper, which is placed on the fabric, and a needle is used to poke through the paper so that the swabbing of kerosene with dye transfers the pattern onto the cloth. 

The embroidery is then done on this transferred tracing. While semi-precious stones and precious metals are rarely used nowadays, the golden and silver metallic wires suffice, as do the plastic or glass stones.

In the final stage, an “ari”, which is a crochet-like needle attached to a wooden stick, is used to pass threads above and below the fabric. The stitches used are salma-sitara, gijai, badla and katori.

Zardozi as a technique is understood to be a distinctive style of stitching as it differs from other traditions of embroidery like kantha, kasuti, phulkari, etc. where the movement of the threaded needle is guided by a variety of stitches. 

However, in zardozi, the thread only acts as a binding medium, whereas the body of the design is completed by laying varieties of metallic threads in several shapes and forms along with beads, stones, beetle wings, etc.

You can differentiate Lucknow zardozi from that of the other regions by way of its ornate and spread-out designs, which have an almost three-dimensional quality due to the use of a swab of cotton-filling called bukram. This is embroidered over to give the desired effect.

The objects replenished with the zardozi work have been categorized in three groups - furnishing items and accessories, costumes and related accessories, and miscellaneous artifacts

GI Tag Registration Date         : 30 March 2013

GI Tag Number                         : 236

Certificate Number                  : 192

Geographical Area                  : Uttar Pradesh

Special Cover Release Date   : 29 September 2021

Cancellation                             : Lucknow 226 001

Type                                          : GI Tag - ODOP Cover

Cover Identification Number  : UP/67/2021

This cover is primarily issued as part of promotion for UP State One District One Product initiative. However it is also a GI Tagged Product with GI Tag details on back side of the cover. 

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