The Art of Henna

Henna: spiritual and traditional.

What mendhi is?

Most of us know Mendhi as henna, and fashion has turned this tradition, symbolic of bridal euphemisms...

"Mendhi (Hindi: मेहँदी) is the application of henna as a temporary form of skin decoration in India", North Africa and the Middle East. The word Mehendi itself comes from a Sanskrit word Megaghni, also meaning turmeric. In combination, the turmeric and mehndi are used in old Vedic rituals.

These Vedic customs are about 'awakening the inner light'.

In rural India, women grind the fresh henna leaves and add oil - this is probably known as the 'real stuff' and brings out a much deeper often darker colour. Being the twenty first century, mendhi can be bought in ready made cones, which make painting easy.

The purpose of this blog and the art of Mendhi hold one similarity, that is they are all about weddings! Mendhi parties are commonly associated with weddings. Mendhi, holding higher rank as a significant pre-wedding ritual.

Traditional Indian weddings are large, week long elaborate events. Among the weeks celebration is the Mendhi. It is a fun, spiritual night celebrated most commonly by the bride's friends and family. These customs vary depending on ones own rituals and culture. Wealth and status plays it's own role within this.

There are various rituals the bride herself has to go through.

The bride's family celebrates by gathering the bride's friends and relatives to bless the bride.

Where it first started?

What it is used for?

Henna is typically applied during special occasions like weddings and Hindu festivals like Karva Chauth, Diwali, Bhaidooj and Teej. In some Hindu festivals, every woman tries to have Henna done on her hands and feet. It is usually drawn on the palms and feet, where the color will be darkest because the skin contains higher levels of keratin which binds temporarily to lawsone, the colorant of henna. Henna was originally used as a form of decoration mainly for brides.

Why is it special?

Mendhi, as beautiful and as seductive as it is in it's own right, mendhi has a deeper much appreciated meaning. It shows her transformation from a young girl into a temptress for her hunband.

I read somewhere that in the "Kama Sutra, henna is one of the sixty four arts of women."

What do the designs mean?

Traditional mehndi designs draw the sun on the palm, which in this context represents the mind.

Popular motifs of the bridal mehendi are conchshell, flowers, Kalash, peacock, doli and baraat patterns.

What are the fun parts of Mendhi?

The intricate motifs of the bridal henna also hide the husband’s name. It is said that the husband’s name in the intricate henna motifs is made for the groom who has to find out his name in his bride’s mehendi as an evidence of his sharp eyes and active brain to impress his girl.

Traditional application?

Mehndi is a ceremonial art form which originated in ancient India. Intricate patterns of mehndi are typically applied to brides before wedding ceremonies. The bridegroom is also painted in some parts of India. In Rajasthan, the grooms are given designs that are often as elaborate as those for brides. In Assam, apart from marriage, it is broadly used by unmarried women during Rongali bihu (there are no restrictions to the married ones). Henna is also common in some gulf states, specially Bahrain, where the night before the wedding night is dedicated to decorating the bride with henna, and called "Henna night".

The Mendhi night?

Weddings in the India can often be long ritualistic and elaborate affairs with many pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding ceremonies. The occasion of Mehndi ceremony is often one of the most important pre-wedding rituals especially for the bride. It is a fun filled ritual, which is celebrated mainly by the bride's family. Different regions of the country celebrate the ritual in a different way according to their own marriage customs, rituals, and culture.. Mehndi ceremonies take place outside the India amongst the Indian community and places like Birmingham in the UK are such known hotspots for lavish Mehndi celebrations.

The ceremony is mainly held at the bride's house or at a banquet hall on the eve of the marriage ceremony or few days before the marriage. Generally the bride and groom attend the event together and on the occasion a professional henna artist or a relative applies mehndi to the bride's hands and feet the designs are very intricate. Often hidden within the mehndi pattern the name or initials of the groom are applied. The event generally has a celebratory festival feel to it with the women dancing and singing traditional songs and the girls wearing vivid colours such as hot pink and yellow, often if the bride to be wishes to tease her future groom she will make him wear purple. The groom usually wears jutti instead of western footwear.