Mehendi, a common shrub is known to have been in use in all parts of the world since time immemorial. The traditional way of painting hand and feet with mehendi is still popular especially among brides.
Decorating the bride's hand and feet with the application of henna or mehendi is symbolic of the auspicious occasion. Besides decorating the hands and feet it is a popular dye to colour hair. It is also used as a home remedy for various minor ailments.
In North India, application of mehendi is a common custom. For them this is an auspicious day before the wedding.
The application of mehendi is an art that is fascinating and exciting . A combination of geometrical and floral patterns are used in this decorative art.
Fresh leaves of the plant are ground into a fine paste, a little lemon juice and water are added to it to get the desire consistency for application. Nowadays mehendi in powdered form is also available. A fine paste is prepared with the powder and lemon juice. Tea or coffee is added to it to increase the intensity of colouration.
In the past, mehendi was applied with the help of small sticks. But today, plastic cones are used instead of stick and the mehendi paste can be pressed out in the shape of a fine strand through its nozzle.
After the formation of design, the mehendi is allowed to dry, for more intense and durable colouration it should be kept for five to six hours. During this time the drying paste is prevented from flaking off by periodic dabbling of a cotton soaked in a mixture of lemon juice and sugar.
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To make a Mehendi cone,
Ingredients : One pack mehendi powder, enough water to make a thick paste, extract of two lemon, eucalyptus oil - 1 teaspoon, strong black tea -2 teaspoons.
Sieve the dry mehendi powder and add all the above mentioned ingredients and keep it for seven hours. Then fill the paste into a thick plastic cover and tie it tightly. Make a small hole with a pin at the tip of the cone. The fine mehendi paste can be squeezed out in a thin strand.
Few modern methods are adopted to suit the women who cannot spare five to six hours for putting mehendi. Zardosi mehendi is the most popular method which is in tune with today's fast life. By this method one can sport beautiful designs on the hands and feet with different colours according to the persons choice in 30 minutes. The art of putting zardosi is the same as mehendi- a specially prepared black herbal henna is filled in a paper cone. With this the design is drawn on the hand and feet. After twenty minutes it can be washed off. This leaves a black imprint which can be later filled with different colours, nail polish, glitter sprinkles etc. to make it more colourful. This gives a tattoo effect on the hands and feet, and it lasts only for a few days.
Apart from this, computer graphic designs are also used with the traditional mehendi designs. Traditional Arabic designs of mehendi have now become popular in India. Wonderful designs make the art of mehendi more attractive and beautiful.
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