الوصف

~~History of Mehndi~~

The art of applying henna in hands and feet is known as Mehndi and it is a very old custom and ancient art form of the Asian subcontinent. The propagators were the Mughals. The Mughals taught us all about the history of Mehndi and introduced it to India during *2th century AD. During that period the royal and rich use to decorate themselves with it. The patterns were intricately made by the artists or the beauticians. Indian weddings are incomplete without the mehndi ceremony .The ritual of mehndi ceremony is followed in every part of the country where the hands of the bride are adorned with the lovely red color of the mehndi. On these festive or wedding occasions mostly traditional Indian designs are made on the hands of the bride.

The origin can be from Egypt because it was one of the art forms in Egypt. It has the evidence that it has been found that henna was used to stain the fingers and toes of Pharaohs earlier to mummification. The mummification process took many days and as the Egyptians were diligent in planning their rebirth after their death, they became quite fanatical in the preservation process. The Egyptians believed that body art ensured their recognition into the afterlife and therefore used Mehndi to identify them.

Henna patterns will be beautiful and have four different styles.

1. The Middle Eastern style is mostly made up of floral patterns similar to the Arabic paintings.
2. The North African style follows the shape of the hands and feet using floral patterns.
3. The Indian and Pakistani designs include lines patterns and teardrops.
4. The Indonesian and Southern Asian styles were a mix of Middle Eastern and Indian designs using blocks of color on the very tips of their toes and fingers.

Mehndi celebration
Weddings in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are considered to be a sacred and sanctified ceremony. They can often be long ritualistic and elaborate affairs with lots of 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 Indian sub-continent amongst the Asian community and places like Birmingham in the UK are such known hotspots for lavish Mehndi celebrations.