Importance Of Mehendi Ceremony

By Author: Ankush Singhal
Total Articles: 173
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Mehendi or henna ceremony is one of the most awaited ceremonies of a wedding. The bride and her young relatives and friends in the Hindu matrimony very keenly wait for mehendi, as they get chance to apply beautiful designs of mehendi, celebrate, and sing and dance. The tradition of applying mehendi is age-old, but the modernization of the culture and increased fancy of the brides has made mehendi ceremony a must in the North Indian wedding these days. The craze of mehendi can also be seen among the brides from abroad.

Bride’s family is the host to the mehendi ceremony. The ceremony takes place one or two days prior to the wedding, at Bride’s home. However, mehendi ceremonies are growing bigger, and have become an indispensible part of a wedding ceremony. The women and girls attend the ceremony from both bride and groom’s side, who get together at the bride’s home and celebrate the function. According to the tradition in Hindu Matrimony, the mehendi is sent to the bride by her would be mother-in-law, along with some sarees and other gifts.

During ...
... the mehendi ceremony, hands and feet of bride are decorated with beautiful and intricate designs of mehendi. The women and girls attending the function also decorate their hands with mehendi designs. It is believed in the Hindu matrimony that if the mehendi on the hands of the bride turns dark, then her husband and mother-in-law will love her. To have a rich dark colour, the girls can follow various tips:

1. Heating cloves on a tawa and absorbing the heat by the palms.
2. Applying a mixture of lemon and sugar on the mehendi regularly to have a desired colour.
3. Applying mustard oil on hand heating it well, as heat can make the mehendi colour to glow dark.
4. After drying of the mehendi, removing the dry mehendi with mustard or coconut oil is also helpful to achieve a desired mehendi colour.
5. It is always recommended not to touch water for a day after applying mehendi.

Change in the Traditions:
Earlier, a relative or friend of the bride applied the mehendi, and elderly women used to sing wedding songs, and bless a blissful married life to the bride and groom. The tradition has changed now, and mehendi professionals are called to decorate the hands and feet of the bride. The music of elderly women is taken over by the properly rehearsed choreography by professional dancers, dancing over the tunes of recent popular blockbuster numbers. A grand feast follows the mehendi ceremony and dancing. This way, the guests heartily enjoy the ceremony. In Hindu matrimony these days, the formal invitation is sent to the relatives and friends, by sending separate cards.

Trendy Designs:
Traditional designs are always loved by all, and will always remain in the demand. Such traditional designs comprise images of dulha, dulhan, doli, floral designs, peacocks, etc. With changing trends, the bride also loves to embellish their hands with contemporary designs. Arabic Mehendi with free flowing design, covering both sides of the hand are one of the hot favourite these days.

The impact of television and cinema can be seen in the mehendi designs too, as they have greatly popularized mehendi ceremonies. Brides love to decorate their mehendi design with semi precious stones and studs, matching the bridal trousseau.

Instant Mehendi or tattoos
Tattoo mehendi or instant mehendi is also gaining popularity in Hindu matrimony also. Such tattoos are easy to apply, and are available in amazing and bright colours like silver, gold, orange, bright red or pink, blue, green, and many more. Such tattoos are stuck on various body parts like neck, navel, waist, back, foot, etc.

Rashmi writes on behalf of Jeevansathi.com, which is India’s fastest growing Matrimonial website. Jeevansathi.com helps the users to search corresponding matches from their respective community like Hindi Matrimonial from their online matrimonial and matchmaking services.