Wedding Henna Tradition for Hindus

According to Hindu customs, bridal mehndi is one of the solah shringar or 16 adornments of an Indian bride. It is considered to boost the beauty of the bride and is applied at every festival & fortunate occasion. It is an age old custom pursued by Indian brides & was initially used as a form of embellishment for brides.
 

The bridal mehndi designs are very intricate & exclusive with beautiful motif. The motifs include flowers, elephant, paisley, dhol, leaves, shehnai, kalash, lord ganesh, peacocks etc. All these motifs are related to the wedding & are measured to be propitious. Apart from these motifs the design of mehndi also has an image of a bride & groom. The groom is drawn either on a horse or with a shera as this is how he would come to the wedding unadventurously. Also the grooms name is engraved within the designs & then he is supposed to find his name as a part of one of the customs. This indicates that the groom is now integrated in the bride’s life. The designs fluctuate depending on the length. All these motifs are engraved in a continuous manner with diverse patterned fillers. The designs are very complicated with very diminutive spaces & hence look wonderful when completed.

The bridal mehndi cone is dissimilar & is made with immense care. It’s a mélange of many different ingredients in various proportions to get the profound colour. The elements include eucalyptus & clove oil which helps for better color. Once upon a time the henna is applied, it has to be left during the night for the colour to get darker.  Generally a concoction of sugar syrup & lemon juice is applied once the henna has dried as this prevents it from peeling off & also helps in boosting the colour. According to a tradition Indians believe that the colour of the beautiful mehndi is related to the fondness of the husband; deeper the colour, greater the fondness.

The folklore has been in existence for several years. It started as a function where women of the household would apply mehndi to the bride –to-be, but these days it is a popular pre-wedding function which is celebrated on a big scale with different themes & entertainment. Also artists are customize designs to harmonize the bridal outfit!