'Phulkari' is a famous embroidery of which state?

Phulkari is the traditional embroidery of Punjab. The word means "flower work" (phul means flower, and kari means work or craft). It is done on shawls, dupattas (odhnis) and other cloth.

Features of Phulkari:

• It is done with untwisted, brightly coloured silk floss thread (called "pat"), mostly in yellow, golden, orange, red, green and pink, on coarse hand-spun cotton cloth (khaddar), usually in shades of red, brown or white.
• The embroidery is done with a darning stitch from the back of the cloth, and the designs are mostly geometric shapes, flowers and motifs from village life.

When the whole cloth is covered with dense embroidery so that the base fabric cannot be seen, it is called a "Bagh" (garden). Baghs were traditionally made for weddings and important occasions.

There are many types, such as "Chope", given to a bride by her maternal grandmother; "Sainchi", which shows scenes of village life; and "Thirma", made on white cloth and worn by older women.

Traditionally, Phulkari was made by women at home for their families, and making a Phulkari for a daughter's wedding was a deeply emotional tradition. A mother or grandmother would start embroidering it when a girl was born. Patiala is the most famous centre today.

Phulkari received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2011 for Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Other famous embroideries of India:

• Chikankari: Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).
• Kantha: West Bengal and Odisha.
• Kasuti: Karnataka.
• Kashida: Kashmir.
• Zardozi: Lucknow, Agra, Bhopal (gold thread work).

Why not the other options?

• ✗West Bengal is known for Kantha embroidery.
• ✗Uttar Pradesh is known for Chikankari.
• ✗Karnataka is known for Kasuti embroidery.