MEHNDI

MEHNDI

Mehndi (henna) in India is a exquisite temporary form of skin decoration traditionally drawn in delicate , patterns on the hands and feet of women, naturally for any festival or occasion, especially for big celebrations like weddings. Though it has been used for body art and hair dye since the Bronze Age, henna has had a recent renaissance in Euro-American (Western) culture of glamorous creations of body art (‘henna tattoos’ at carnivals, festivals and fun fairs / holistic fairs), growing in difficulty and expansion, with new innovations in glitter, gilding, and fine line work.

Mehndi has great importance in all Eastern wedding customs. The ‘Mehndi Ceremony’ (mehndi ki raat, exactly translated - Mehndi Night), is one of the most important and grandest pre-wedding functions. It is something like the ‘the West, with all the bride’s female relatives and friends getting bachelorettes’ of together to celebrate. In some religions, unless the mother-in-law has applied the first dot of mehndi to the bride’s hand, the application cannot go ahead. The mehndi dot is considered to be a symbolic permission, delivery of which permits the new daughter-in-law to beautify herself for the groom. There’s nothing sacred or spiritual about it, but it is considered beneficial and lucky, as well as beautiful. The designs adorn both the front and back of the hands, sometimes all the way up to the elbows and the feet, sometimes all the way up to the knees. Some popular beliefs are that the darker the design, the more her in-laws and in particular, the husband, will love her and that a darker design signifies the strength of love/affection/passion in the marriage.

It has become a trendy alternative to tattoos, with Hollywood actors and celebrities making this painless art famous. Recent technological innovations in grinding, sifting, temperature control, and packaging henna, as well as government encouragement for henna cultivation, have improved dye content and artistic possible for henna. Women in countries where women are traditionally dejected from working outside the home can find socially acceptable, lucrative work doing henna.

My personal opinion is that this might have been artificial to make the bride sit patiently for the paste to dry and yield a dark and deep design. I also believe that for the bride, the process is therapeutic in calming and preparing her for the event, as she is forced to relax and wait for the paste to do its job properly. A bride is not expected to perform any chores until her wedding mehndi has faded; another reason to have a dark and deep design. A bride's wedding designs usually includes a hidden inscription of the groom's name on her palm. It's believed, if the groom fails to find his name within the intricate patterns, the bride will be more central in married life. Sometimes the “wedding night” is not allowed to commence until the groom has found his name. This is also seen as a ruse to let the groom touch the bride's hands in order to find his name, thus initiating a physical relationship. Another superstition regarding Mehndi is that if an unmarried girl receives scrapings of mehndi from a bride, she will soon find a suitable match.

Commercially available henna powder is made by drying the henna leaves and milling them to powder, and then sifting it. This powder is mixed with lemon juice, strong tea, coffee, cloves, tamarind, lemon and sugar. Essential oils with high levels of "tarps", monoterpene alcohols such as tea tree, eucalyptus, cajuputs, or lavender will improve skin stain characteristics. The henna mix has a toothpaste-like regularity and is applied with a one of many traditional tools or the modern cello-wrap cone.

Pure, natural henna does not allow for a full range of colures but only shades of reds, oranges and browns. While it leaves a chocolate brown or deep mahogany red stain on the hands and feet, it can be lighter on other parts of the body; the shades can vary depending on the individual skin. Henna tattoos last at least a week depending on the quality and freshness of the paste, application, skin chemistry and aftercare. It usually takes many hours to get a good henna stain on the skin, and is relatively safe. Allergic and irritant reactions are very rare. On the other hand, the fast black stains of henna boosted with para-phenylene diamine (PPD for short) can cause lifelong health damage.