Mehndi - Traditional Decoration at Indian wedding

[sury]

Mehndi aka Henna is used in traditional Indian weddings and usually women
have them. They can get quite intricate but here are examples of some relatively
simple decorations. Since I want to show before and after, I am breaking the 3 image
rule and offer my apology in advance for such a breach of etiquette.
Mehndi : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehndi
Henna: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henna

Sury

Work in Progress






After henna dried and washed off.

[aster]

Hi Sury, : )

Very intricate Henna workmanship on those palms, Sury. I quite enjoy the look of them, though I have not had any personal experience with such embellishments, I think the Indian women have the beautiful olive-smooth skin quality and the matching outfits to please the eyes of the on-lookers.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

Nicely taken photos Sury; that is spontaneous art of a high order, very impressive.
I read the Wiki articles and they are interesting also; I wonder if the odd bride doesn’t get their Mehndi touched up if they notice it starting to fade too soon.
Greg

[sury]

Greg,
Seldom if ever one needs a touch up. Typically these are applied couple of days before the
wedding they usually last from a week to fortnight depending on how little usage those hands
get.

Sury

[Birma]

The designs are fantastic, and it looks hand drawn. And these are the 'simple' patterns? Wow

[Greg Beetham]

Sury when I was reading the links you provided they mentioned that if a bride’s Mehndi begins to fade the family starts to speculate that the marriage might not last. That's why I was thinking along those lines, a bit of an old wives tale probably but there it was just the same.
Greg

[sury]

Greg,
Aah!!! I see what you mean. The anecdotal inference is that darker the color, more bride's husband loves her.
All these are certainly old wives tales. I do not know of a marriage cancelled because of a mehandi not getting
darker. But on the other hand, the bride called off the wedding because the groom's side insisted on having
mutton biryani served instead of chicken biryani. Ha! So much for male dominated Indian society.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bang ... 49237.html

[Dr. Harout]

Here's my take

[sury]

That's a good one Doc. Any more? Any one else?

Sury

[Dr. Harout]

Sury, as you wish.
These decorations were made by Indian students studying at the Medical University.
As their mentor, I was privileged to take some shots.

[ValeryD]

I always thought were those decoration coming from in Canada? I can see the roots of the arts Thank for sharing the pictures.

[sury]

Doc, that explains it. I thought using Henna in such manner is spread wider than India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Valery, since Canada does have a large contingent of Indian subcontinent denizens, it is natural to see these occasionally
in Canada.

Sury