Punjabi Wedding Part V - Mehndi Ceremony

In the evening, we had some dinner and getting ready for the Mehndi Lady to come and do Mehndi for the bride.

Mehndi, as an Indian wedding tradition, dates back to Mughal times. The hands and feet are intricately patterned with a paste of henna, oil, lemon juice and water steeped in tea leaves. Mehndi is supposed to symbolize the strength of love in a marriage. Hence the darker the designs, the stronger the love. Professional mehndiwalis apply mehndi for all of the women and girls of the wedding party.

The mehndiwalis finally arrived around 7.30pm. While the bride is siting still, letting her hand being drawn, the woman of the family started the party.

First is the Jago dance. A steel jar is filled with flour dough and candles is stick on top. The Bride's youngest sister in law start the ball rolling. Everyone stands outside the door, the bride's sister in law carried the jargo and place it on her head. She then dance her way into the house and the rest of the ladies followed behind her.

The jago is passed from one lady to another. When the lady put the jago on her head, she will go to the center of the hall and dance.

After the jago, dance and singing started. It will lasted till the Mehndi is done. I am busy snapping pic and helping in the kitchen because i am too shy to dance and i duno how to sing haha.

Finally around 10pm, the Mehndi is done. While the rest of the ladies is q-ing for the mehndi to be done, I decided to make a move. Tomolo is a working day for me so i bid goodbye to everyone.