Karwa Chauth: Mehendi stalls a big draw during last minute preparation
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Karwa Chauth: Mehendi stalls a big draw during last minute preparation

To make themselves appear more attractive, the ladies decorate their hands and feet with henna.

Karwa Chauth: Mehendi stalls a big draw during last minute preparation

Karwa Chauth, the festival of happiness and togetherness, is here. This is when a woman fasts the entire day for the long life of her husband, and even partner or fiancé, in case of unmarried girls.

Application of the mehendi (henna) occupies a special place in the lives of married women on the occasion. To make themselves appear more attractive, the ladies decorate their hands and feet with henna. It is believed that the darker the mehendi colour, the more a woman would be loved by her husband and her in-laws.

With the festival just a day away, the markets are flooded with married women applying mehendi on their hands and feet. The mehendi designs that women generally opt for today range from traditional floral patterns to geometrical shapes as also abstract designs.

In the age of internet, most women are going for their own designs rather than leaving everything to the discretion of mehendi artists. They get ideas for the designs on the internet and go for them when they approach the artists for final application. 

Dharmendra, a mehendi artist in business for the past eight years at New Friends Colony (NFC), said, “Most of the women these days are opting for Indian mehendi and Marwah designs.”

Indian designs are those in which the front portion of the hand is covered fully with mehendi, while Arabic adorns the back. Marwari designs are made with thick mehendi. 

Ram Avatar, another mehendi artist at NFC said, “About 75 percent of the women prefer their own designs which they show on their own phones.” 

These mehendi artists charge around Rs. 500 per hand. For Karwa Chauth, they start preparing mehendi two days in advance. They start applying from eight in the morning till 12 midnight or 2 am. 

Soomya, a resident of NFC, said, “I am celebrating Karwa Chauth for nine years and apply mehendi every time. It’s part of sringar, the most important thing that I like of the festival.” 

“I always come to the community centre of NFC for applying mehendi as the area is closer to my house,” she added.

Sushma Verma, a teacher from Faridabad, said, “I am applying mehndi on my hands ever since I got married. This time too, I have applied mehndi on my feet and will apply on my hands at night.”

“Mehndi makes you look attractive. It beautifies your hands and feet,” she concluded.

Karwa Chauth is the occasion when women express their unconditional love and caring for their husbands.  On the occasion, all women, irrespective of age and years of marriage, dress up like newlywed brides and worship the moon. 

All these together make this festival a celebration of the marital bond between husband and wife.