© Photographer: Sunny_13 | Agency: Dreamstime.com
© Photographer: Sunny_13 | Agency: Dreamstime.com
© Photographer: Sunny_13 | Agency: Dreamstime.com
Henna or the so-called mehndi is another form of art which include the adorning of the hands or feet with a paste made from bush of henna (lawsonia inermis). This bush usually grows in hot and climatic lands like that of Pakistan, India, Persia, Sudan, Syria, Morocco and even Egypt. This bush was very popular in these countries due to its ability to cool bodies just by simply applying dots to the palms. Over time, people began to draw some patterns using henna which became so popular that it has been transmitted from generation to generation up until today.
The most popular henna is still used in any parts of the world today. But tracing its origin, the use of henna as an art is about 5,000 years old. It was believed by most of the artists that henna plant has originated from Egypt and the artistic display of skills of its first artists can be found on the mummies dating back to 1200 B.C… The purpose was just to stain the hands and feet of the pharaoh before their remains were mummified. The art was brought to India by Moghuls during the 12th century.
The traditional and conventional use of henna was just to draw on the hands, feet or dye the hair. However, much people are not satisfied with that. Therefore, they began a revolutionary art by drawing some patterns on their back, upper arms, belly and legs.
Henna was traditionally used during wedding ceremonies wherein the hands and feet of the bride are decorated with beautiful drawings. Usually, floral designs are used for women. On the other hand, bridegroom’s hands will have to bear some decorations too.
There were three cultures which used henna in different ways:
Arabic style: The signature of this style is large patterns of floral designs. It is and evident that today’s Arabic paintings and textiles have floral paintings large enough so they could be noticed in their own little yet magnificent art.
Indian style: The signature of these two cultures is like Asian styles; tear drops, peacock, pansies, lotus, lines and some small patterns of flower. Also, they used to color their finger nails and toes with black.
African style: Africans are fond of drawing some large geometry and bold characters. Most often, the most desired color is black.
And today’s style is much more different compared to the styles mentioned above. However, all the styles have something in common; they all use henna.
When it comes to different henna recipes, almost all the countries who used the substance use the same ingredients and recipe. All of the artists who use henna have the same basic ingredients; henna and water. However, another factor like temperature and timing has different measures in different countries.
In India, henna is soaked in water tor a few hours because they believed that the henna needs to be soaked carefully to get a rich color. Arabic style is somewhat different because they use just lukewarm water, but they leave the mixed henna for about 3 hours before using. In Africa, artists use lukewarm water and leave the mixture of henna under the sun until the time it will be used.
Today’s artists also have different style, some use lukewarm and leave the mixture for 6 long hours. Others just use cold water, but they will put the mixture in a microwave oven to make the particles of henna conducive for sensitive skin.
