Abubahar

This is a simple and celebrated design which seems to have taken its name from the Persian word, abi bahar meaning water of the spring season. The design gives the image of a water channel in spring which moves in a zigzag way. Parallel lines of similar or different colors are embroidered in zigzags.

Alif Tar

Is the name of an embroidery design in which parallel yet angled (thirchi) lines of about 70 degrees in twos, threes or fours are drawn, and their various colors make eyes swim. Alif tar is mainly used for the lines in sleeves and collar of the chugha, and in this case they are called polthai instead of chaghezi. The outer lines are parallel in shape.

Beheshto Khar

Beheshto khar literally means the garden of heaven characterized by a big flower in the center accompanied with a bunch of three flowers on each side, which point in opposite directions. Bordered on each side the embroidery is mainly used in women’s skull caps and is embroidered in cross stitch. Beheshto khar is mainly used in caps and surband using natural colors.  

Bilogho Lai

Bilogh in traditional houses are the small holes on either side of the sheroton (main pillar in the front), and are mainly used to put traditional lamps which are lit by a small piece of cotton dipped in oil placed in a cup. 

Boyik Lai

This motif has a clear picture of a bird sitting on a branch next to a flower and is very popular amongst Chitrali women when embroidering skull caps. It is also created using cross stitch on cotton fabric with broad patterns. The borders are simpler than other patterns.

Brano srung

Resembles the horn of a sheep as srung in Khowar is used for horns and bran means sheep. The motif is mainly used in embroidering the phlak (upper round cover of a cap). 

Chadaro Lai

A Chadar or bed sheet makes an important part of a bride’s dowry which she takes with her to her husband’s house, and it decorates the wedding bed of the couple. It is made up of different motifs. 

Chaghezi

Chaghezi are the straight lines of embroidery on the outside edges which separate the main embroidery from the border embroidery (hashia). Chaghezi are parallel lines of the same color, mainly green. In the skull caps band strip there are two parallel lines on each side of the strip, while in surband the number of chaghezi are eight with separate hashia inside the lines.

Chakan Lai

Chan and Chut

Chan and chut are generally the way of differentiating a motif in Chitral as most of the motifs consist of flowers and leaves. Most of the women normally do not know the names of the motifs and refer to them simply as chut lai and chan lai. Chan and chut are normally linked with either kishthi or stem (band). In the middle of chan lai we have small flower-like shapes which are called chut. These small flowers are then colored in various colors including red and yellow.

   

Chaquhanu Lai

Chaquhanu means knife cover.  It is a small and delicate design consisting of flowers (chut) and leaves (chan) on either side in continuation.  There are motifs of other designs used in embroidering chaquhanu.

Dangarikan

Dangar is the name of place situated in the Gilgit area. The name of the design seems to have been imported from Dangar which took the name of dangarikan. It is more or less like abibahar except that the edges in abibahar are sharp, while in dangarikan the edges are smooth. The line giving the image of waves is the same as that in abi bahar.

Dori Lai

Four big spoon-like motifs stemming out of a centre are called dori lai.  The motif is mainly used in the plahk of skull caps and other materials.

Duk Lai

Duk lai takes its name from an image of an embroidery tool used for spinning kach (silk). The motif is used on the round top of the skull cap (khoi) as well as other embroidered items including women’s shirt collars.

Girvani Lai

Girvani lai are specifically used for embroidering the collar of a ladies shirt as the name girvani (collar) suggests. The embroidered shirts are mainly used by women during wedding ceremonies. The embroidery pieces are fashioned separately and are then attached to the shirt.

Hashia

This is a design normally fashioned on the sides of other designs. It is a completely different design running on the side of the main design but presents a superior combination to make the embroidery beautiful. Hashia lai are also used in other materials such as watch strips.

Jenjera

The word jenjera has probably been taken from Urdu word for chain (zanjir). Any color can be used in chaghezi which looks like an intricate chain, and enhances the beauty of an embroidery by giving the impression that various colors of thread have been delicately wrapped around a rod. Jenjera chaghezi is much more complicated than a simple chaghezi.

Jenjer

This is a motif used in the midst of other designs to enhance the beauty of the composition and to make the overall design more prominent. It is drawn in different shapes such as the circle, oval and triangle which are complete design in themselves.  

Kahak Pongi

Feet of a hen-like motif gives the design name of kahak pongi. Some women name the motif as boyik pongi (feet of a bird), and the name varies from area to area within Chitral. This motif is also used in skull caps and other embroidered items. 

Kalbuki Lai

The motif of kalbuki (doll) looks like a cauliflower. However, a careful gaze gives an image of a doll on all four sides. Kalbuki in the local language is also used for eye ball, and that may be the reason a round ball-like shape is expressed in the pattern.

Kambokhi Lai

This motif takes its name from the word kambokh in Khowar used for the stem of a plant or tree. The motif gives an image of a continuation of flowers on either side of the stem, and is mainly used in ladies shirts and on the corner of a bed sheet (chadar). The color of flowers varies from red to yellow and pink, and the leaves are normally green.

Kashtek lai

Kishti lai

The kishti motif is either of oval or triangular shape and is used mostly in the outer empty space of a design helping to connect the flowers (chuts). A pattern with lines shrinking inward line after line forming the image of a boat is called kishthi lai.

 

Kohngora

Kohngora in Khowar is used for sword; therefore, a design with the shape of a sword is called kohngora. However, there are other patterns of kohngora used in Chitral. Kohngora lai is mainly used in caps to separate the horizontal band (patti) from the round top of the women skull cap. In this design, small curved lines are drawn outside the hashia in a proportionate way.

Madakhel

This pattern is traditionally used in skull caps using cross stitch on a plain fabric with clear patterns. With borders on either side madakhel is a combination of three geometrical patterns.

Mushti Lai

This motif consists of fist-like images pointing out on four sides of the floral pattern in the centre. For this style, the motif continues in a horizontal line bordered by geometrical patterns. This motif is also cross stitched.

Ot lai

The camel-like motif is called ot lai. The motif of a camel is drawn in a way that looks as if the camel is eating the leaves of a flower plant.

Panpusho Lai

Pan is piece of plain wood or mantle paced above the fireplace (normally situated in the corner of the wall) of the guest room (anguti) where guests put their belongings while seated for rest. Panpush is a piece of embroidered cloth put over the pan for decorative purposes. 

Phan Lai

The hand-like motif (four hands joined at the centre and facing outward) mostly used in the plahk of skull caps is called phan lai.

Pushi pongi

In the Khowar language pushi means cat and pongi means foot. So this design which resembles cat feet is called pushi pongi, which gives a epeated, continuous line.

Qaf Lai

Qaf Lai (curved hand motif) takes its name after the pictures of 4 curved hands stemming out of a flower. The hands lie two on each side facing each other.  Embroidered in the cross stitch method, the qaf lai pattern is mainly used in women caps and for decorating the borders of women’s clothes.

Raag Nut

The name Raag Nut (dancing) is taken from the image of a Kalasha woman which looks like it is dancing.

Shunjhano Lai

Shunjhano is a small cover to keep needles in so that they are not lost, and the motif used for this cover is called shunjhano lai. This article also accompanies the luggage taken away by the bridegroom on the occasion of his wedding.

Tukmai

The button (tukma) like motif of the embroidery gives it the name of tukmai. However, the shape of the button changes from a triangle to a square to a circle, etc.

Yurjo ghech

In Khowar, yurj is the word for falcon and ghech means eye. The motif looks like the eye of a falcon. This is a very simple and delicate design.