Mehndi ( or Mehendi) is the application of henna as a temporary form of skin decoration in India.
In Tamil, it is called as Maruthani. The school where I studied had rule not to apply nailpolish / maruthani while attending school. Still, they had exception during the festival time like diwali .
Every year during the festive season , we used to buy the leaves from market before diwali, prepare the paste and apply in our hands. Those were the traditional methods.
myself , my sis and mother used to apply. As my father, being single male in the family, we don't want to leave him and ask him to apply. He will avoid telling some reason. Also I have observed that only boys who are kids, have this maruthani and men don't apply.
In recent years, the ready-made cone was made available at shops, and people started to use them having pictures of modern art , Arabic designs etc.
This maruthani is an essential part in the bridal makeup too. In some parts of north India, they dedicate a day for this mehendi and all the ladies and little girls spend time in applying mehendi and have a fun time.
I was under impression that this Mehendi/maruthani is for sole use of girls, but I was wrong.. Recently I came across a wedding photo , which made me laugh at the view of it. Well, the bride groom in the photo was also having mehendi in his hand, much better than the bride's design.
I had to cut off their faces before posting here, for privacy reasons..
I thought this guy must be crazy. Then on surfing Wikipedia on mehendi came to know that
"The bridegroom is also painted in some parts of India. In Rajasthan, the grooms are given designs that are often as elaborate as those for brides" - [source: wiki]
hmm.. who knows this might soon come to Tamilnadu too..
--Dhanesh Amma
In Tamil, it is called as Maruthani. The school where I studied had rule not to apply nailpolish / maruthani while attending school. Still, they had exception during the festival time like diwali .
Every year during the festive season , we used to buy the leaves from market before diwali, prepare the paste and apply in our hands. Those were the traditional methods.
myself , my sis and mother used to apply. As my father, being single male in the family, we don't want to leave him and ask him to apply. He will avoid telling some reason. Also I have observed that only boys who are kids, have this maruthani and men don't apply.
In recent years, the ready-made cone was made available at shops, and people started to use them having pictures of modern art , Arabic designs etc.
This maruthani is an essential part in the bridal makeup too. In some parts of north India, they dedicate a day for this mehendi and all the ladies and little girls spend time in applying mehendi and have a fun time.
I was under impression that this Mehendi/maruthani is for sole use of girls, but I was wrong.. Recently I came across a wedding photo , which made me laugh at the view of it. Well, the bride groom in the photo was also having mehendi in his hand, much better than the bride's design.
I had to cut off their faces before posting here, for privacy reasons..
I thought this guy must be crazy. Then on surfing Wikipedia on mehendi came to know that
"The bridegroom is also painted in some parts of India. In Rajasthan, the grooms are given designs that are often as elaborate as those for brides" - [source: wiki]
hmm.. who knows this might soon come to Tamilnadu too..
--Dhanesh Amma
