Ambi : A mango-shaped motif - the paisley pattern (lit. 'rich')

Amli : Needle work embroidery native to Kashmir

Angarkha : A long-sleeved, full-skirted tunic for men, generally open at the chest and tied in front with an inner flap

Ari : Awl-like hooked needle, often used for chain stitch embroidery

Badam : A textile term for oval-shaped motifs

Badla : Flattened gold or silver wire

Badla Mukaish : Knots of badla sewn onto cloth

Baluchar  : A type of brocaded silk sari

Bandgala : closed neck

Bandhini  :The mode of tie-dyeing fabrics to form patterns (also known as bandhej)

Bandi : A short jacket or waistcoat

Batik : A paste or wax resist dyeing technique

Bel  :A stylized creeper pattern

Buti : A smaller version of a buta the term is used also to denote stylized animal motifs printed in block repeats

Calico : A term used by early European traders

Cheent :Spotted

Chikankari  : White embroidery, predominantly floral patterns, executed on fine white cotton with untwisted threads of white cotton or silk

Chiru : Himalayan antelope

Choli : A woman's blouse or bodice usually tight-fitting

Chunari : A tie-dyed dotted pattern, a veil

Chunnat  :Pleated or crimped gota ribbon

Churidar paijama : Style of tight-fitting paijama, rouched from the knee to the ankles (lit. the paijama with bangles)

Dhoti : An unstitched garment used to drape the lower body, very much in use today

Dori : A cord

Dupatta : An unstitched length of material for the upper body traditionally worn by both sexes, but now mainly worn by women as part of a salwar kameez (paijama and tunic) ensemble

Farshi : A wide legged trailing paijama

Ganga Jamuna : The juxtaposition of silver and gold in a woven pattern, named after the confluence of dark and light waters of the two sacred rivers

Ghaghra : A gathered skirt usually very flared

Ghera : Circumference, fullness of a garment

Gheru : Saffron, ochre

Ghundi : A button made of silk or cotton, sometimes covered with gold or silver wire, held together with a loop

Gota : A metallic ribbon in which badla forms the weft and silk or cotton the wrap

Gota Moti : A beaded cord covered with gota, often used for finishing ghaghra and jama hems

Gota : Patti Small leaf shapes made of gota

Gote : The bottom part of a farshi paijama which is made up of three sections, often richly embellished

Holi : A lively and colourful festival celebrated on the last day of the month of Phalgun to welcome the onset of spring

Ikkat : The name of the pattern created by the tie-dyeing the weft and wrap threads before weaving which is a specially of Gujarat Orissa and Andhra Pradesh

Izarband : The decorative drawstring at the waist of a lower garment, usually a ghaghra or a paijama with ornamented tasselled ends

Jaal : An all over pattern in a printed or embroidered fabric

Jala : A small wooden frame used by master craftsmen, on which threads are tied to form a grid of the wrap and weft outling the design of the weave

Jamakhana : The storehouse for garments in the Mughal and other royal courts

Jamavar : The trade name for the woven or embroidered Kashmir shawls

Jamdaani : A weaving technique traditional to the town of Tanda, Jais and Dacca used to produce figured muslins

Jhoomar : A jewelled hair ornament worn on the side of the head

Jhumka : A bell-shaped piece of jewellery

Jutis : Slip on shoes, usually elaborated embroidery and with unturned toes

Kalamkari : Painted cloth (as a trade term it referred to both painted and printed cloths)

Kali : A gored panel

Kalioyndar Paijama : A wide bottomed paijama made up of several panels

Kameez: A tunic

Kanchala Kundal : A type of earing

Kanchli : A sleeveless bodice worn in Western India

Kanni : A complex weaving technique originating in Kashmir (known in the West as the double twill-tapestry technique)

Khadi : Fabric made of handspun yarns, symbol of India's fight for Independent

Kurta : A loose, stitched garment worn by men and women, most commonly described as a tunic (also known as a kameez)

Kurti : A short kurta usually worn by women also know as Tunic

Lahariya : A pattern in which diagonal wavy stripes are formed by the fold-resist dyeing technique of the same name

Lehnga : A long skirt

Libaas : An ensemble or dress

Mashru : A medium weight wrap faced satin or twill fabric with silk wrap and cotton weft

Minakari : Coloured enamel jewellery, borders or butis woven with different coloured silk to give the appearance of enamel

Mothra : A criss-cross pattern obtained through fold-resist dyeing in woven fabrics the term

Moti : A bead or pearl

Mulmul or Malmal : Cotton, usually in reference to Indian muslin, particularly the muslin woven in Bengal

Odhini : A veil, usually 3m x 1m, worn by women with a ghaghra, kurti and kanchli, it covers the head and the right shoulder, is drawn across the body and either tucked into the waistband or left hanging in front

Pagri : The common term for a turban

Paijama : Drawstring trousers worn by men and women with many different styles

Paithani : Cotton and silk sari produced in Paithan

Pallav : The decorative border at one or both ends of a length of fabric usually of a sari, odhani or patka

Pashmina :The wool made from the fleece of the underbelly of the rare Tibetan wild mountain goat

Patti : A border or edging

Peshwaz : A long high-waisted gown

Phulkari : Folk embroidery typical of the Punjab

Poncha : The ankle opening of a paijama, usually the salwar, which is often quilted or ornamented with decorative stitching

Purdah : The practice of sequestering women, the flap of fabric in the angarkha that covers the chest, the pieces of fabric used to make up the cups of a choli

Sari : An unstitched length of fabric up to 9 yds in length and 18 to 60 in width with a decorated end panel draped in a wide variety of styles

Shatoosh : The fleece of the tibetan chiru antelope that is spun and woven into fine shawls

Shal :A shawl

Salwar : Paijama A baggy style of paijama tapered at the ankle worn mainly in the Punjab, Afghanistan and African garment

Shervani : A formal knee-length coat fitted to the waist

Sinjaf : The facing inside the hem of a garment

Sitara : Tiny metal discs, often of gold or silver with a tiny hole at the centre

Tanchoi : Figured silk with multiple supplementary weft threads, that create a heavy densly patterned fabric

Teej : A festival celebrating conjugal love, held in Northern and western India in The month of Shravan

Tikka  : A forehead ornament also used to refer to a bindi

Tikki : Metal discs used in zardozi embroidery

Topi : A cap

Tussar : A type of wild silk made in Eastern and Central India from hand spun yarns

Tikki / Tikki : Embroidery Metal discs used in zardozi embroidery

Vastra : Clothes

Zardozi : Gold thread embroidery using metallic elements and threads, sometimes mirrors, precious or semi precious stones

Zari :  metal wrapped yarn used for zardozi embroidery

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