Among the commonly seen chali is the Markini Chal. This is a semicircle stretching from one end of the idol to the other supported by two pillars. 
Bangla chal follows the tradition found in temple architecture. The chali extends on both side of the idol in a suspended pattern. The chali is lengthy enough to fit figures like Shiva, Dashabatar of Vishnu and Dashamahavidya of Durga.

Mothchouri chal has three continuous semicircular divisions like a wave with three peaks. 
Tanachouri chal though resembles to some extent the Mothchouri chal it doesn't have the three divisions but here the peaks are prominent. Chalis' differ in their shape as in their themes. Generally chalchitra deals with themes like Shiva at Kailash and Durga sitting in a two-storied building carrying Ganesha at the center. Two extreme corners narrate two battlefields. One battle was fought between Sumbha-nishumbha and Devi Kaushiki, a part of Durga, where Kali was born to kill these two demons.The other battle depicts killing of the demons Chanda-Munda by Chamundi.

For a Shakta (worshipper of mother goddess) family the tiger would retain its original form, while for a Baishnava family the same lion would look like a white horse, a form of the Narasimha Avatar of Vishnu. Blue is used as a base with a few exceptions of pink ones. The figures are generally painted in reds. Other colours used are yellow, green, pink and black. In some occasions the chali used to be divided with dark margins like "Choukopots" having images like Narada, Narayana, Shiva, Indra Brahma. In some other region the figures are found to be floting. But in all cases only the profile of the figures are shown.

Lack of patronage has brought a decline to this lively art. Besides as the challis are generally immersed with the idols no legacy is found. Present day artists are inferior in talent as they have lack of in depth knowledge of Puranas. Besides a few Royal houses of Bengal and a few traditional houses and museums there is always unawareness for its preservation among common people. Nowadays Chalchira is used as a part of decoration with a few common decorative motives.