Why the women of Rajasthan paint their hands
In the weeks before the monsoon, the lanes of any Rajasthani town smell faintly of something green and earthy. It is the henna, drying on the doorsteps in steel bowls.
There are sayings for everything. A bride whose henna turns dark will be loved by her husband, or her mother-in-law, depending on who tells the story. All of this is said with a smile, but every bride we know has checked the colour of her palms the next morning.
The word: mehndi is the Hindi and Rajasthani word for henna, a shrub whose dried leaves are ground into a fine green powder and mixed into a paste.
The stain: it begins orange and darkens over a day or two to a deep red-brown, before fading as the skin renews itself.
Facts to know
- What it is
- Paste from the leaves of the henna plant
- The stain
- Orange, darkening to red-brown
- Lasts
- One to three weeks
- Famous henna town
- Sojat, Pali district
- Safety
- Natural henna only, never black
- Always there: in many families it is impossible to imagine a wedding, a festival or the arrival of the rains without it.
- It cools: in a desert summer that matters. Older women still put thick paste on palms and soles on the hottest days, and some use it on the hair.
- A sign of joy: above all, mehndi means joy and marriage. It is shubh, auspicious, and a married woman wears it at every important festival of her year.
- Bound to family: in many traditional families a widow did not, which tells you how closely the colour on a woman's hands is tied to her place in the family.
- In the paintings: in Rajput court miniatures the women's palms and soles are often red, from henna and from alta, a red lac dye painted around the edges of the feet.
- From palace to village: queens in the zenana had their hands painted by women who did nothing else, and the custom passed from palace to village and back.
- See the link: ask our guides to point out hennaed hands in the painting galleries at Udaipur or Mehrangarh.
- No housework: a bride is not expected to do housework until her wedding mehndi has faded.
- The hidden name: the artist hides the groom's name or initials in the bride's pattern, so he must search for it on the wedding night.
Sojat, the henna town of Marwar
Drive east from Jodhpur into Pali district in late autumn, and you may pass fields of low green shrubs being cut by hand, and rooftops spread with drying leaves.
A great henna centre: the town of Sojat, in Pali district of Marwar, is one of the great henna centres of India.
The soil: the shrub grows well in its dry, sandy soil with little irrigation, and Sojat leaves are prized for the strength of their colour.
Facts to know
- Where
- Sojat, Pali district, Marwar
- Main harvest
- After the monsoon
- GI tag
- Since 2021
- On the road
- Between Jodhpur and Ajmer
- Visit
- By arrangement, in season
- The harvest: farmers cut the bushes for their leaves more than once a year, and the main harvest follows the monsoon.
- The mills: the leaves are sun-dried, then ground in the town's mills into powder sold across India and far beyond.
- Geographical Indication: in 2021 Sojat mehndi was registered as a GI, the Indian mark that protects a product tied to a place, like Darjeeling tea or Kota Doria cloth.
- What the tag means: only henna grown and processed in the area can be sold under its name. For the families who farm and grind it, it is pride as well as trade.
- A working town: Sojat is a market town rather than a sight, and most travellers simply pass through.
- For the curious: we can arrange a stop to see the fields in season and visit a family-run mill, with a guide who knows the trade.
Local tip
Ask about Sojat when you are planning, not on the road. The visit depends very much on the harvest, so it needs planning ahead.
From leaf to paste to stain
A good mehndi artist is half chemist. Ask her about her paste and you will hear about leaves, lemons, oils, patience and a great deal of family secrecy.
Facts to know
- The plant
- Henna, Lawsonia inermis
- The dye
- Lawsone, in the dried leaf
- Paste rests
- Several hours, often overnight
- Applied with
- A hand-rolled cone
- Remove by
- Scraping, never washing
- The plant: henna is the shrub Lawsonia inermis, and its colour comes from a dye in the leaf called lawsone.
- Why it fades: lawsone binds to the keratin in the outer layer of the skin, so the stain wears away as that layer is shed.
Making the paste
The mix: powder sifted very fine, then mixed with water or lemon juice, a little sugar to make it smooth and sticky, and a few drops of an essential oil such as eucalyptus to help the colour develop.
- Family secrets: some artists add strained tea or other family ingredients.
- Resting: the paste rests for several hours, often overnight, while the dye in the leaf is released.
- Fresh paste: greenish-brown, smooth as toothpaste, smelling of earth and oil.
Filling the cone
The cone: a small cone of plastic or cellophane, rolled tight and sealed, the tip snipped to the width of a fine line.
- Hand-rolled: good artists roll their own and adjust the tip, finer for outlines and broader for filling.
- Market cones: they vary enormously, and some contain chemicals, which is why we ask our artists to make their own.
Drawing the design
Like a pen: the artist squeezes gently, laying a raised line of paste on the skin.
- Freehand: usually without any drawing, from the centre of the palm or the back of the hand outwards.
- How long: a small design on the back of the hand takes half an hour. A full bridal design, both sides of the hands to the elbows and the feet to the shins, can take four or five hours or more.
Drying, darkening and fading
Leave it on: as long as you can bear, ideally several hours, dabbed with lemon juice and sugar to keep it moist.
Scrape, never wash: the skin underneath is bright orange.
- Darkening: over a day or two the stain deepens to red-brown or maroon.
- Darkest where: palms and soles colour most, because the skin there is thickest.
- Make it last: keep water away for the first few hours, and the colour lasts one to three weeks.
Reading a Rajasthani design
Look closely at a Rajasthani bride's hands and you will find a whole wedding on them: a palanquin, a band of drummers, a peacock and, somewhere, a tiny groom.
Like lace: Rajasthani mehndi is known for very fine lines and dense, intricate filling.
The layout: patterns run from the fingertips to the wrist or elbow and are usually symmetrical between the two hands.
The palm: a circle or mandala often sits at its centre, surrounded by petals, with fingers banded in fine lines and dots.
Facts to know
- Style
- Fine lines, dense lace-like filling
- Palm centre
- A circle or mandala
- Signature figures
- Bride, groom, doli, peacock
- Feet
- Lotus, anklets, sari borders
- Alternative
- Bolder, quicker Arabic style
- Fingertips: often filled solid, giving the hand a finished, painted look.
- The couple: bride and groom are drawn on opposite palms, so they meet when she joins her hands.
- The wedding figures: the doli, the bridal palanquin with its bearers, the procession with musicians and a horse, dancing women, elephants with howdahs and the kalash, a sacred water pot.
- The peacock: Rajasthan's favourite bird, a symbol of love and the monsoon.
- On the feet: lotus flowers, anklets drawn in henna and borders like the edge of a sari.
- Arabic style: bolder, with flowing vines and leaves and more open skin, and quicker to apply.
- Modern choices: many young women choose a mix, or a small modern motif on the back of the hand.
Local tip
For your first mehndi, ask for a traditional Rajasthani design on one hand and something simpler on the other. That way you can see the difference for yourself.
The mehndi calendar: weddings, Teej and Gangaur
Our grandmother could tell you the month by the women's hands. Henna before the rains, henna for Teej, henna for Gangaur, henna for every wedding in between.
Facts to know
- Weddings
- The cool months
- Teej
- Shravan, usually July or August
- Gangaur
- After Holi, March or April
- Also
- Karva Chauth, Diwali and Eid
- Dates
- Lunar, confirmed each year
Weddings, in the cool months
The happiest evening: usually a day or two before the main ceremony, among the women of the bride's family, with songs, dancing and a great deal of food.
- Who has what: the bride the most elaborate design, and her mother, sisters, cousins and friends smaller ones. In many families the groom has a small symbolic dot or design too.
- The whole sequence: our journal on Rajput weddings explained.
Teej, in the monsoon
What it celebrates: the arrival of the rains and the reunion of Shiva and Parvati.
- In Shravan: women dress in green and leheriya, swings hang from trees and almost every woman has fresh mehndi.
- Ghevar: the sweet shops fill with the honeycomb sweet of the season.
- In Jaipur: the goddess is carried in procession from the City Palace. Our Teej page and our journal on Teej in Jaipur explain the festival.
Gangaur, in spring
- Gauri: the festival honours the goddess of marriage, worshipped for days by girls and married women with singing, fasting and mehndi.
- The processions: through the streets of Jaipur and to the lakeside in Udaipur. Our Gangaur page has the details.
Karva Chauth, Diwali and Eid
Karva Chauth: in autumn, married women fast for their husbands' long life and wear fresh henna.
- Diwali: henna is part of dressing for the festival of lights. See our Diwali page.
- Eid: Muslim women and girls across Rajasthan decorate their hands the night before.
Where and how we arrange it
A mehndi artist will come to you anywhere. The trick is finding one with a steady hand, a natural paste and the patience to do it properly.
Facts to know
- Jaipur
- At your hotel, with a bazaar morning
- Udaipur
- A lakeside terrace, then a boat
- Jodhpur
- Hotel or haveli, Sojat on the road
- Pushkar
- An artist we know, not the street
- Weddings
- A full evening, booked early
Jaipur, in your palace hotel
- At your hotel: in Jaipur, an artist comes to you, perhaps in the gardens of Rambagh Palace in the late afternoon, with tea and music.
- With the bazaar: the walled city is full of bangle and leheriya shops, so we often add a morning in the bazaars of Jaipur to choose a Teej sari or lac bangles to match.
Udaipur, on a terrace by the lake
- The city of weddings: Udaipur has many gifted artists who work every wedding season.
- A lovely afternoon: mehndi on a terrace facing Lake Pichola, then a boat on Pichola at sunset once your hands are dry, especially for couples and friends.
Jodhpur and the road through Sojat
- In Jodhpur: in Jodhpur, at your hotel or in a haveli courtyard.
- Sojat: for a special interest, a stop on the road east towards Ajmer to see where the henna grows.
Pushkar, in the bazaar
- Lined with artists: the main bazaar of Pushkar, where many travellers have their hands painted as they wander.
- Our preference: quality varies and some street cones contain chemicals, so we bring an artist we know to your hotel and let you watch the bazaar artists from a rooftop cafe.
For weddings and celebrations
- A full mehndi evening: for destination weddings and vow renewals in a palace, with a team of artists, musicians, decorations and food, for the bride and every guest who would like it.
- Book early: bridal artists fill quickly in the wedding season, so we reserve them as soon as your dates are set.
What happens at a mehndi session
Sit down, rest your hand on a cushion, and for the next half hour you are not allowed to do anything at all. Many guests find this the most relaxing part of their journey.
The artist arrives: with her cones, a few albums of designs and sometimes a helper.
Your choice: back of the hand, palm, fingers, feet or ankles, and how much you would like covered.
Most guests: choose the back of one or both hands.
Facts to know
- Back of hand
- Thirty minutes to an hour
- Bridal design
- Four or five hours
- Drying
- About twenty minutes
- Best time
- Late afternoon or early evening
- Who
- Women, men and children welcome
- Palms: they take the darkest colour, but stop you using your hands longest, so we suggest them only if you can rest afterwards.
- Overnight: with a late-afternoon session you keep the paste on through dinner and overnight, wrapped loosely in a tissue. Ask the artist to dab it with lemon and sugar before bed.
- In the morning: scrape it off with a blunt knife or a fingernail, avoid soap and water for a few hours and watch the colour deepen.
- Children: they love a small peacock, a flower or their initials.
- Men: some of our male guests ask for a small design on the forearm, which the artists find entertaining but happily do.
- A little celebration: private sessions for couples, families and friends, often with tea, sweets and a pair of folk musicians singing the old mehndi songs.
Natural henna, and why we never use black henna
Real henna never stains black. If an artist offers you a jet-black design that is ready in minutes, walk away politely.
Natural henna: an orange stain that darkens to red, brown or maroon, safe for almost everyone.
Patch test: anyone with very sensitive skin or a known allergy should test a small patch first.
G6PD deficiency: anyone with this rare blood condition should avoid henna.
Before you book
- Real henna
- Greenish-brown paste, orange to maroon stain
- Black henna
- Never; often contains PPD
- Patch test
- For sensitive skin or allergies
- Avoid if
- You have G6PD deficiency
- Tell us
- Any past reaction to hair dye
- Black henna: it usually contains a chemical dye, often para-phenylenediamine, which can cause severe allergic reactions, blistering and lasting scars, especially in children.
- Where it turns up: in some tourist areas around the world, and sometimes in Indian markets.
- Our artists: only those who make their own natural paste and are happy to show you what is in it.
- How to tell: natural henna smells of earth and essential oil, not chemicals, and goes on greenish-brown, not black.
- Hair dye: if you have ever reacted to it, tell us before your session.
- Medical questions: our page on health and safety in Rajasthan has general advice, and your own doctor is the right person to ask.
Who will love it
Brides, of course. But also grandmothers, teenage boys and one very serious accountant from Zurich who asked for a peacock.
Couples: a session is lovely on a honeymoon or anniversary, and our Rajasthan honeymoons often include one in Udaipur.
Friends and families: groups and multi-generation families enjoy it as a gentle, sociable evening.
Facts to know
- Good for
- Couples, families, friends, wedding guests
- Children
- Small designs, a good rest
- Best setting
- A quiet evening
- Not before
- Swimming, driving or a hand-eaten dinner
- Honeymoons
- Often in Udaipur
- Children: they adore small designs, and it rests them in the middle of a busy day.
- Wedding guests: anyone going to a wedding in India will find it helpful to try mehndi first, to know what to expect.
- Understanding women's lives: the artist is very often a woman with a busy wedding diary of her own, and the conversation opens a window men rarely see.
- Women travellers: our guide for women travellers has more on meeting women on the road.
- Less suited: anyone who needs their hands right away, for swimming, driving or a long dinner eaten with the fingers. Plan your session for a quiet evening.
Etiquette and ethics
Mehndi is joyful, but it is also part of religious and family life. A few small things show respect for the artist and the tradition.
Natural henna only: never accept black henna, for yourself or for a child.
Agree the price first: pay the artist fairly. We agree fees in advance, so there is no bargaining on the day.
- Ask before photographs: of the artist at work and of other women at a mehndi evening. Many prefer not to be photographed at family ceremonies.
- At a family ceremony: join the songs and dancing if asked, and bring a small gift of sweets.
- Palms and feet: traditionally for women at festivals and weddings. Men usually keep to a small design, and the artist will guide you.
- Eating: avoid eating with a freshly painted hand. Ask for a spoon, and let someone else serve you.
- Tipping: tip the artist if you are pleased. Our money and tipping guide explains what is usual.
What to pair it with
Mehndi is best as part of a slow afternoon, not squeezed between two monuments.
Dressing up: a lesson in draping a sari or an odhni, a fitting for a leheriya dupatta, or a visit to a bangle maker in Jaipur.
Read first: our journal on how to wear a sari and our page on leheriya and bandhani.
Facts to know
- Dress up
- Sari draping, a leheriya dupatta, lac bangles
- Relax
- A spa afternoon, mehndi, then dinner
- Festival
- The day before Teej, in Jaipur
- Weddings
- Before you arrive at the celebration
- Photographs
- Late-afternoon light for hands
- Spa, then henna: a treatment at your hotel spa in the afternoon, mehndi in the early evening, then dinner. Our spas and Ayurveda page lists the best.
- During Teej: a session the day before the festival lets you join Jaipur's women with freshly painted hands, with the shops full of ghevar. Our journal on ghevar and Teej explains the sweet.
- Before a wedding: ask us to arrange a session before you arrive, so your hands are ready for the photographs.
- Photographing hands: the soft light of late afternoon is best, and our photography tips explain how to capture it.