The Pakistani Mehndi Ceremony

In Pakistan the mehndi ceremony is usually called a 'tael mehndi' (oil and mehndi) ceremony. Traditionally the groom-to-be and the bride-to-be would hold their ceremonies separately, but nowadays the choice is up to the family to hold a ceremony together or of their own accord. The mehndi is supposed to be applied to the bride-to-be and the oil is supposed to be applied to the hair of the groom-to-be.

Nowadays however as the bride usually prefers to have her mehndi done professionally they have their mehndi done in a parlour or call a professional mehndi artist to their home if none of their relatives are experienced enough. It's not usually applied at the mehndi ceremony.

More to come soon!

Naqsh-e-Henna

The Indian Mehndi Ceremony

The mehndi ceremony for the Indian/Hindu culture is held before the bride-to-be gets married. It is a time of ceremonious dancing and singing as well as the gathering of family, friends and relatives just before the wedding.  Firstly the bride-to-be is 'beautified' by having turmeric paste applied to her face, feet and hands to brighten her complexion for the big day. Once that is removed they apply  mehndi on her arms down to her hands and on her feet up to her knees.

The guests all participate in song and dance and a bit of teasing of the bride-to-be to help ease her tension and stress for the big day.  Usually all the women who are attending the wedding have mehndi put on their hands, but it's never has elaborate as the brides mehndi.
Traditionally mehndi is a necessity for the bride to be for several reasons:

1. The deeper the colour is represents the love that the husband will have for his wife as well as the understanding the bride will have with her mother-in-law.

2. It is known to symbolize fertility and a happy marriage.

3. As mehndi is known for it's cooling effects it is especially applied to ward off stress and any illnesses before the wedding day.

It is also tradition that if the bride is to move into her in-law's home she is not to do any chores until her mehndi fades away.

Mehndi is usually applied at night and not removed until the next morning. The groom-to-be also has mehndi added to his hand but not as decoratively as the bride. It is applied to the man subtly as a mark of a good omen.

Mehndi Ceremony

Mehndi has become such a tradition in south Asia that before a bride gets married they have a day set just before the wedding for the cultural 'Mehndi Ceremony'.  Traditionally it's just a day where the bride-to-be and groom-to-be are set on a stage while their relatives sing and dance around them. Sometimes it's just set for brides-to-be but sometimes the groom-to-be is also invited or hold their own party.

The tradition is that relatives, friends or henna artists would apply decorative mehndi on the bride-to-be on this day, but sometimes brides-to-be will apply their mehndi from a salon by a professional rather then have it done at the actually ceremony.

More to come about mehndi ceremony's very soon!

The History of Mehndi - Part 2

Traditionally in India during the Moghul period mehndi used to be applied simply by just spreading the paste all over the palms of the feet and hands including the nails. Over time the application started to become decorative where instead of just spreading it all over the palm of the hand they would just put a circle in the centre of the hand and just dip the tips of the fingers in the mehndi.

Since then mehndi has been coned and refined and requires quite a lot of skill to apply. Brides nowadays demand professional looking mehndi and perfection where a simple blob won't do!

I remember the time where mehndi was introduced to the western world by a popular music artist at the time who was trying to find herself - can you guess who? Yes that's right it was Madonna. She went from discovering Judaism to discovering the art and culture of Indian henna and jewellery.

So as she brought it back with her to the U.S. the rest of us who were already introducing mehndi to our friends in school were forgotten!
But I digress...

Mehndi art designs have become so popular that nowadays they are used for decorating homes and even food items. For example it's become a trend to have mehndi art decorated on such things as candles, picture frames, jewellery boxes as well as cakes and other decorating desserts.

Mehndi will be continued to be used throughout and it's only a matter of time before it invades everyone's home.

Naqsh-e-Henna

The History of Mehndi

Mehndi has been around for thousands of years being used to bring good health, fertility and protect one from the 'evil eye'. We know mehndi today to be used by females for decorating parts of their bodies such as their hands and feet for special occasions like weddings or religious holidays.  The idea that it has been used for medicinal purposes or warding off evil has long since been forgotten.

The only visible evidence that suggests how long mehndi has been around is on female Egyptian mummies where hair, nails and hands have been found to be covered with mehndi.

The only written evidence I can suggest about mehndi being used dates back to around the 6th century where traditionally mehndi leaves were being used for it's healing abilities by Muslims or Arabs. It was known to heal wounds, illnesses such as small pox or leprosy, and improve the condition of hair and nails.  It was also known to keep the skin cool which is mostly why it was treated as a hair dye more than anything. Since Arabs mostly populated the deserts of the Middle East heat was a great factor in their lives.

It is said that the traditional mehndi we see today was re-introduced by the Mughals to the rich and elite families of India. Since then the recipe has been refined to improve the intensity of colour and ease of application.

More to come about the history of mehndi - stay tuned!

The Colour of Mehndi

When I was first introduced to Mehndi I was about 12. Now I'm not that old, but henna wasn't even introduced into the world at that time. What amazed me most was how long it lasted on my hand - at least 3 weeks! I was back in the homeland at a time when mehndi wasn't altered in any way nor filled with any chemicals like they have now.
Although I have to admit that after a week I kind of get tired of looking at the fading mehndi design over my hands. So I guess it's a good thing that mehndi doesn't last that long any more!
So lets get with the colour of mehndi. Initially mehndi comes out an orange colour if it's not mixed with anything but water. Actually if you put coffee or tea in it as well it just comes out orange.

If you purchase your mehndi from a professional 'mixer' then you will get a lovely dark mahogany red colour. Sometimes mehndi turns darker during the day, and then starts to fade in about a week.

The most dangerous kind of colour mehndi is black mehndi.  Such mehndi is mixed with a chemical called ParaPhenylenediamine or PPD for short.  PPD in mehndi will only take 2 hours to stain your skin black, and will last at least 2 weeks. Such mehndi penetrates deep into the skin and can reach as far as your blood stream.  Having such a toxin in your system can be extremely dangerous because not only on the off-hand chance you might just only get a skin infection, but constant use of such mehndi it will embed in your system and the toxins will start to collect into your major organs like your liver and kidney. This can cause serious damage and possibly expose you to cancer.

I'm not a professional mixer I'll tell you that now. I have however heard of other ways of turning mehndi black or near to black colour without the side effects, but I'll have to research a bit more on that before I can share it with you.
 

Mehndi Fun

Welcome to the land of Mehndi - pictures and tutorials coming to you from me! I personally can't do mehndi justice, but I love it just the same and any die hard henna fan would. By the by if you haven't figured it out yet, mehndi does mean henna - there is no difference between the two. That's your lesson for today...

So lets get on with it shall we? :)

Naqsh-e-Henna