What is the value of Mehndi ?

                                                 
                                                   MEHNDI (HEENA)


TRADITION

                Mehndi is applied in India during special  Hindu weddings and  Hindu festivals like Karva Chauth, Vat Purnima, Diwali, Bhai Dooj ,Rakshabandhan,Gangore and Teej. In India women apply Mehndi  to their hands and feet. It is usually drawn on the palms and feet,Mehndi  is originally used  to decorate Hindu brides. Muslims also apply Mehndi during their festivals like Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha.

              Now a days in India even due to limited supply of Indian Traditional Mehndi artists, usually people buy ready-made Henna cones, which are ready to use and make painting easy. However, in rural areas in India, women grind fresh henna leaves on grinding stones with added oil, which though not as refined as professionally prepared henna cones, achieves much darker colors.

MEHNDI IN FUNCTIONS

                         
                            Weddings in India are  long, ritualistic, and entertaining with many pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding ceremonies. Different countries and regions of a country celebrate the ceremonies in different ways according to their own marriage customs, rituals, and culture.

                   According to Hindu tradition,One of the most important pre-wedding ceremonies in Indian marriages is the ‘Mehendi ki raat’. It is not only a fun pre-wedding ritual but also has a deep-rooted cultural significance to it.  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 mehndi artist or a relative applies mehndi to the bride's hands and feet. The event generally has a celebratory festival feel to it with the women dancing and singing traditional songs and the girls wearing vivid colors such as hot pink and yellow, The groom usually wears sherwani & jutti instead of western Dress & footwear, and the Bride is dress up in Dark Mahroon or Red colour Lehnga with full on jewelery.

            As a wedding tradition, it is followed in many part of India as well as in neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Mehendi is quite popular among Muslims as well. According to Islamic literature, Prophet Muhammad used mehendi to dye his beard and administered its use to those who were unwell. Because of this, mehendi ceremony is an important pre-wedding ritual, observed in the Indian subcontinent and many Arabic nations.

Mehendi Ceremony


                   The mehndi ceremony is a colourful, musical and lively celebration. Different families have different customs during the ceremony. It is usually held a day before the wedding ceremony and is often combined with ‘sangeet’ ceremony. 

 

The bride and other females in the family get decorative mehendi designs on their hands and feet. It is an occasion for both parties to have some fun, mixed with the usual dancing and feasting.
In the intricate design of the bride's mehndi, the groom’s name or his initials are also hidden. During the post-wedding ceremonies, the groom has to find his initials in the bride's hands. This is a fun ice-breaking game for the couple, which also helps them to establish some intimacy.

Modernisation of the designs

                     The traditional patterns of mehendi have become more and more intricate and decorative with time. There are now many types of mehendi patterns, most popular ones being the Arabic and Rajasthani designs. Mehendi is now even applied with ornaments, like crystals and sparkles. Each beautiful design has degrees of intricacy and can be made unique for the bride. These intricate design patterns are now quite popular among brides, worldwide.




Mehendi is also an important part of other special cultural occasions, such as Karva Chauth, Diwali and other Indian festivals. But as a tradition, mehendi holds a deep-rooted cultural and social place in the weddings.

Significance        

     

        The actual significance is other than adding a dash of colour to the hands and feet, the henna leaves have immense medicinal and healing powers. Weddings, undeniably a period of stress and tension, create a lot of stress. Applying of mehndi on the hands and feet helps in keeping the nerve-endings cool, which in turn keeps the stress at bay. Mehndi also acts as an antiseptic agent; thus, keeping the bride free from viral diseases, cuts and bruises around the wedding. Application of mehndi also improves blood circulation. Thus, the practice of applying mehndi was to keep the bride-to-be hale and hearty.