Importance Of Mehandi In An Indian Wedding

By Author: Ankush Singhal
Total Articles: 173
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Despite the presence of many religions and their custom one common ritual that is celebrated in all the religions is the ceremony of Mehandi. Mehandi ceremony is celebrated a day prior to the wedding where every female in the wedding applies Mehandi which is considered as auspicious and enhances the celebration mood. Professional Mehandi artists are called to apply Mehandi on bride's hands and feet which add more beauty to her and make her look different from other females.

Mehandi symbolizes a sign of fertility in many cultures but generally, Mehandi symbolizes the love and affection of a husband for his wife. The darker the color of Mehandi, more deep is the love of the husband and her mother-in-law. This is the reason that it is applied almost on all the important occasions like Indian marriages, karva chaut, rakhi, teej and Diwali etc. Today, Mehandi ceremony has become a grand affair and is celebrated along with sangeet where some are dancing and singing on Dholak, these days DJ system have also become very popular and some are some are sitting and are applied Mehandi on their hands.

Mehandi has become an ...
... ornament for the bride which is applied beautifully and with many designs such as flower designs, influences from Indian architecture, Arabic, Rajasthani and many women also inscribe their husband's name in the Mehandi and later tell their husbands to find their name. These days Mehandi has also become a fashion statement and many unmarried young girls apply Mehandi on their arms, stomach, ankle and on the back when wearing deep blouses. Mehandi has no side-effects and in some places it is considered as ayurvedic medicine for hair. It is made of henna and water and some people also mix water of tea leaves into this mixture to get a darker color once the Mehandi is removed.

Like other rituals in a marriage like engagement, rokna, haldi ceremony and so on where the bride is dressed beautifully, on Mehandi ceremony a bride generally wears yellow or orange color outfit as these colors are colors of emanate positive energy and is thus, considered to be auspicious. It is a family affair where only close relatives are invited and give blessings to the bride and apply henna on their hands as well. It is a saying that a bride does not do any household work unless her Mehandi is entirely removed from her hands. It is also a saying that the longer it stays, the more love she receives from her husband and in-laws.

Thus, we can say that the idea of Mehandi comes naturally to Indians, though internationally it has become a fashion statement, but with Indians it holds a special place in its customs and this trend is increasing and being adopted by other cultures as well.

Gurleen Kaur writes on behalf of Jeevansathi.com, which is India's fastest growing matrimonial website providing online Indian matrimonial classified service. Jeevansathi.com enables users to create and search corresponding matches for their respective profiles like Hindu matrimony, Muslim matrimony wherein users can avail free registration and make initial contact with each other through services available on Jeevansathi.com via Chat, SMS, and e-mail.