ਮਹਿੰਦੀ

Mehndi (ਮਹਿੰਦੀ) is the Punjabi word for henna: the reddish brown dye made from the leaves of the henna plant, and the art of painting patterns with it on the hands and feet. It is a feminine noun. The word comes from the Sanskrit mendhika, the name of the henna plant itself.

What does mehndi mean in Punjabi?

Mehndi means henna in Punjabi, and the one word covers three things together: the plant, the paste ground from its dried leaves, and the designs painted with that paste. Wikipedia notes that in Punjabi, as in Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Bengali, the word came to stand for both the henna paste and the art of applying it. At a wedding, mehndi also names the celebration built around the painting.

How is mehndi made and applied?

The paste is made from the powdered dry leaves of the henna plant, Lawsonia inermis, and is usually applied with a cone, a brush or a stick. The favourite places are the palms, the backs of the hands, the wrists and forearms, and the feet and ankles, sometimes reaching above the elbows and knees. The patterns are small and intricate: flowers, vines and leaves, paisleys, peacocks and mandalas, often with the names or initials of the bride and groom hidden inside the design.

How long does mehndi colour last?

When the dried paste first comes off, the design is a pale to dark orange. Over the next 24 to 72 hours it darkens by oxidation to its final reddish brown, and it can last from one to three weeks, depending on the paste and the part of the body. A wedding joke follows from this: the darker the bride's mehndi turns, the more her partner is said to love her.

When is mehndi applied at a Punjabi wedding?

At a Punjabi wedding the mehndi is applied before the wedding day, at a gathering of its own with traditional food, dancing and music, where family and friends also have their hands painted. The same art belongs to festivals and family ceremonies across the year, and the bride's sitting is one stop in the wedding sequence the Kosh follows from jaago to doli.