Mehndi

Applying Mehndi is not as difficult an art as it is made to appear. You can easily apply mehndi on one of your hands or can get mehndi applied on your hands or feet from some one else. Before applying the mehndi is it advisable to put eucalyptus oil or lemon on the part where the mehndi is going to be applied.

The mehndi paste is then applied ideally using a cone so that the design comes out perfectly. The mehndi design can be taken from a mehndi book or several mehndi designs are also available online. The mehndi designs can be extremely creative and artistic and an experienced mehndi makes will be able to apply the mehndi designs with great precision and make the mehndi look extremely beautiful.

Once the mehndi paste has been applied then you can not really use your hands for the next few hours as enough time has to be given to the mehndi in order to completely dry. This process may take about five or more hours or may take the entire night.

It is believed that the darker the mehndi colour comes out to be the more the husband loves his wife. The Mehndi colour remains for a week after which it starts getting lighter gradually. A good quality mehndi powder if used can last for up to ten days.

Applying a Mehndi is thus a very simple process takes just a few hours but lasts for any where between seven to ten days.

The best thing about the Indian weddings is the functions or ceremonies which take place before the wedding. One of these well celebrated and highly awaited ceremonies is the Mehndi ceremony. The Mehndi ceremony is the one where in all the ladies gather to apply Mehndi to the bride as well as to each other. This ceremony is celebrated with high spirits where a lot of songs are played and people dance and enjoy themselves.

A large number of songs are taken from the Bollywood movies and several albums and are really famous. A few of these songs which are played during the Mehndi ceremonies are:

1. Track: Mehndi Lagaoongi Mein

Album: MEHNDI (ALBUM)

Artist: VIBHA SHARMA

Song:

Mehndi lagaoongi main, sajnaa ke naam ki

Kuch naa khabar mujhe ab subho shyaam ki

Main sun rahi hoon yeh kaisi sadaaye

Sapnon ka saajan mujhko bulaaye.

2. Track: Mehndi laga ke rakhna

Album: Dilwaale Dulhania Le Jaaenge

Song:

Mehndi laga ke rakhna,

Doli saja ke rakhna,

Lene tujhe ho gori,

Aaenge tere sajnaa.

3. Track: Mehndi hai rachnewali

Album: Zubeidaa

Song:

Mehndi hai rachnewaali, haathon mein gehri laali

Kahe sakhiyaan, ab kaliyaan

Haathon mein khilnewaali hain

Tere mann ko, jeevan ko

Nayi khushiyaan milnewaali hai

You can either buy CD’s of the particular movies for these songs or else they can also be downloaded from various websites which enable downloading of a large variety of songs along with the Mehndi songs as well for free.

There are a wide variety of Mehndi patterns or designs to choose from while applying the henna or the Mehndi. Different types of patterns can be used while applying Mehndi on different parts of the body. Such as Palms, feet, back, arms, anklets etc.

As far as the palms of the hands are concerned you can choose from Arabic Mehndi, Indian Mehndi or the glitter Mehndi. Arabic Mehndi generally comprises large floral patterns on the palm of the hand whereas the Indian Mehndi comprises of thin and delicate designs consisting of paisley, floral and lacy patterns. Most of the patterns are based on simple and basic geometrical designs such as circles, triangles and lines and are filled with vines and swirls and they look very beautiful when the Mehndi is applied.

The various Mehndi patterns meant for palms of the hands are flower arches, lotus, peacocks, henna web, leaves chains, swirly vines with dots, henna jewellery, flower net, and many more. The tip of the fingers is generally covered with henna.

While as far as the feet are concerned, it mainly involves making beautiful and elaborate floral patterns. It consists of various commonly used patterns such as tear drops, paisley patterns, flower petals and stems, leafy tendrils, abstract shapes and other intricate designs. The tips of the toes are decorated with blocks of henna color.

Similarly the patterns which are generally made on the arms include vines and swirls with dots or tear drops on either side or both the sides. Thus from tiny flowers to full body motifs, Mehndi has made its way in the global world.

There are a large variety of Mehndi designs that a person can choose from. Arabic Mehndi is one of the most commonly known types of Mehndi designs. The other types and varieties of Mehndi designs include Bridal Mehndi, Glitter Mehndi, tattoo Mehndi, Indian Mehndi, Pakistani Mehndi, and many more.

The Arabic style of Mehndi is quite diverse and it consists of various designs and shapes. Arabic is a term which is mainly used to describe floral designs including flowers, stems, petal etc and it involves leaving of a lot of space when compared to the Indian Mehndi. This kind of Mehndi also includes drawing of a lot of peacocks, faces and other geometrical designs.

The Indian Mehndi when compared to the Arabic Mehndi concentrates on a lot more detail work and does not involve leaving of a lot of space. It takes a lot longer to apply the Indian Mehndi when compared to the Arabic one. Today, when people do not find too much time from their work, Arabic Mehndi is highly preferred because of its time saving advantage. Also, it is known that Arabic Mehndi is a lot thicker than the Indian Mehndi because of which the colour of the Arabic Mehndi is generally darker and is reddish brown when compared to the Indian Mehndi.

For people wanting to take up a course on Arabic Mehndi, there are a large number of classes which teach Arabic Mehndi along with different types of Mehndi designs to both beginners and professionals. And for the people who already know the art of applying Mehndi but are in need of new innovative designs, there are a lot of websites available online which give you access to a lot of free Arabic designs.

There are a large number of websites which are available online that would enable you to get Mehndi or henna tattoos online for completely free of cost. These designs can either be segregated as Indian designs, Bridal designs, Arabic designs, and glitter designs. On the other hand a few websites give designs pertaining to body parts. A few of the body parts where Mehndi can be applied are palms, feet, arms, naval, anklets, back, shoulder, etc.

A few of the many sites which are available for an abundant variety of Mehndi designs have been given below:

http://www.mehndistyles.com/arabic-mehndi-designs/: This website offers you with a large variety of

Mehndi designs such as Arabic Mehndi, Indian Mehndi, bridal Mehndi, glitter Mehndi etc. It also talks about a lot of topics pertaining to Mehndi such as how to apply Mehndi, tips for applying Mehndi etc.

http://www.indiavisitinformation.com/mehndi-design/mehndi-design2.shtml: This website provides you with a large number of Mehndi designs for a large variety of people and occasions. This website also gives you information about the history of Mehndi, medicinal use of Mehndi, how to prepare a cone, how to create different Mehndi designs etc.

http://mehndidesigns.hosuronline.com/home/type.asp?iCat=11&iChannel=3&nChannel=Pictures: One of the sections of this website deals with a large number of Mehndi designs. It consists of various designs for fingers, for hands, legs, parties, traditional mehndi’s, Bridal Mehndi, Arabic Mehndi and many more.

Other than these websites you can also get a lot of Mehndi designs in the magazines, other Mehndi specific books and various other resources which are available in the market.

Mehndi, the ancient art of painting one’s body with henna is a practice which has been prevalent since thousands of years in India, Africa as well as the Middle East. In the past few years these Mehndi decorations have been quite in demand and make a fashion statement. They are also known as the henna tattoos.

These henna or Mehndi tattoos can be applied on various parts of the body such as back, arms, anklets, palms of the hands, naval, feet etc. Mehndi is nothing but the application of henna in elegant designs. Henna leaves are first grinded to dust and mixed with mixture of mustard oil as well as tea to make a thick paste.  This paste is then poured into a plastic bag which is cone shaped and the bag is sealed. Then one end of the plastic bag is cut with the scissor and the henna cone is ready to be applied.

Various designs which may include peacocks, mangoes, geometrical figures, butterflies, flowers, petals, stems, free hand drawing, etc can be drawn as per you choice. After applying the Mehndi the application should be left on your body for about 7-9 hours. As soon as the paste on your body is almost dry apply a solution of sugar and lemon (equal amount) to the paste in order to get a darker colour.

The darker is your colour, the longer will the Mehndi last on your body. Typically any Mehndi lasts for sometime between 3 to 6 weeks depending on the colour of the Mehndi.

The best thing about the Indian weddings is the functions or ceremonies which take place before the wedding. One of these well celebrated and highly awaited ceremonies is the Mehndi ceremony. The Mehndi ceremony is the one where in all the ladies gather to apply Mehndi to the bride as well as to each other. This ceremony is celebrated with high spirits where a lot of songs are played and people dance and enjoy themselves.

A large number of songs are taken from the Bollywood movies and several albums and are really famous. A few of these songs which are played during the Mehndi ceremonies are:

1. Track: Mehndi Lagaoongi Mein

Album: MEHNDI (ALBUM)

Artist: VIBHA SHARMA

Song:

Mehndi lagaoongi main, sajnaa ke naam ki

Kuch naa khabar mujhe ab subho shyaam ki

Main sun rahi hoon yeh kaisi sadaaye

Sapnon ka saajan mujhko bulaaye.

2. Track: Mehndi laga ke rakhna

Album: Dilwaale Dulhania Le Jaaenge

Song:

Mehndi laga ke rakhna,

Doli saja ke rakhna,

Lene tujhe ho gori,

Aaenge tere sajnaa.

3. Track: Mehndi hai rachnewali

Album: Zubeidaa

Song:

Mehndi hai rachnewaali, haathon mein gehri laali

Kahe sakhiyaan, ab kaliyaan

Haathon mein khilnewaali hain

Tere mann ko, jeevan ko

Nayi khushiyaan milnewaali hai

You can either buy CD’s of the particular movies for these songs or else they can also be downloaded from various websites which enable downloading of a large variety of songs along with the Mehndi songs as well for free.

This generation makes use of or applies Mehndi not only during weddings or auspicious occasions such as Diwali, Eid, or any other festivals. Mehndi is infact used during a lot of occasions such as a Valentine’s Day bash, traditional day in colleges, a party, a family get together or even at disco theques. A lot of people use Mehndi as a temporary tattoo as well.

Mehndi in the past few years has been recognized as one of the best fashion accessories by the “cool” or the “fashion conscious” generation. Mehndi or ‘henna’ as it is often called, can be applied on various parts of the body such as hands, feet, arms, as a necklace, as an anklet, on the naval, on the back, etc. Mehndi is applied in various designs and patterns. It all depends on the creativity and the talent of the Mehndi applier.

The various kinds of Mehndi designs comprise Arabic Mehndi, Bridal Mehndi, and Glitter Mehndi; tattoo Mehndi, Indian Mehndi, Pakistani Mehndi, etc. People draw beautiful and elegant Mehndi designs which may include peacocks, mangoes, geometrical figures, butterflies, flowers, petals, stems, free hand drawing, etc.  There are abundant numbers of classes where one can learn new designs as well as the art of applying Mehndi.

For the ones who already know how to apply Mehndi, but are in search of good, new, elegant designs there are a large number of websites which are available online. These websites offer a large number of designs in various categories.

Just like any other course the Henna or the Mehndi courses are of various types and o right from the preliminary level to the professional level. The various courses available are:

Beginner’s Course:

This course is mainly designed in a way to teach the basics of the art of body painting using henna. In order to take the beginner’s course a person does not need to have any prior knowledge of Mehndi application nor does the person need to be a great artist. In this course only the basic designs and simple patterns are taught. There are no pre requisites for this course

Course on Glitter Mehndi:
This course has been designed in such a way so as to enable the learner to be able to create beautiful and elegant designs with the help of both Mehndi as well as glitter. It includes a lot of contemporary designs as well as intermediate patterns. In order to take up this course the successful completion of the beginner’s course is very important.

Advanced Mehndi Course:

This course mainly aims at taking you artistic skills to the next level. In this course you are taught a large number of delicate and intricate designs which comprise of a large amount of detail work. After the successful completion of this course it is very easy to be able to apply Mehndi on full hands and legs.

Course on Bridal Mehndi:

In order to take up this course successful completion of all the above mentioned courses is very important. It mainly concentrates on a lot of detail work.