Henna in Singapore ...
Posted by Jewel on October 06, 1999 at 04:02:29:
In Reply to: where, when? posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on October 05, 1999 at 14:34:25:
: Are you in Singapore, or do I have you mixed up with someone else?
: Where are you? Is the henna there associated with the Muslim,
Hindu,
: or Buddhist population, or ..... ?
Even if you did confused me with someone else, you're right about
where I am :). Yes, I'm in Singapore. I've been wearing henna for more
than 20 years, since I was about 5 - 6 years old. The Muslim community
here does not practise fanciful mehndi too much altho' we use henna
excessively, especially at weddings. Brides will sport deep dark red
henna dipped fingertips (some almost black), with simple palm patterns
(normally a big circle in the middle with many small dots encircling
it). It's the same with their feet. It's almost unheard of for a
Muslim bride to go without henna. The ideal colour would be as deep
and dark as possible (I don't know the reason why, tho' my mom did
told me once but I forgot :( ). I was told that the process of
applying henna often take up to 3 days (in a row) prior to the
wedding. An elderly lady of the family (normally the grandmother,
mother or aunt of the bride) will be the one who applies the henna for
her while the rest of the womenfolk do the same to each other. This
often takes place after the last prayer for the day (about 3 hours
after dusk) and the henna will be kept on the skin overnight.
We get the henna from the Middle East ordered thru' relatives who went
on pilgrimage to Mecca. We buy it in kilos - fragrant, fresh green
VERY coarse henna (but oh so wonderful!). It's so good that we only
add warm water to the henna to get deep dark colours ! (BTW : I'd like
you to have some of my Meccan henna to try :) )
It was only about 10 years ago that Muslims (in Singapore) started
adopting the art of mehndi. The Hindus have been practising it for
years. I've noticed some Indian brides with beautiful intricate
mehndi. I was at Little India a few months back to get some Indian
henna and I noticed many Indian women (mostly older ones) with hennaed
fingertips. I guess the Indian (Hindu) community uses it more than the
Muslims, who only uses it on certain occasions. I have many Hindu
friends who told me that the use of mehndi extends to celebrating a
girl's coming of age and some other celebrations besides just
weddings.
I've never seen any Buddhists wearing henna, in fact, alot of
Buddhists I knew were quite surprised to see my mehndi. They told me
they've never seen something like that before. But this depends on
whether that person is a Chinese Buddhist or Indian Buddhist. Most
Chinese people I know don't know much about henna. But most Malay and
Indian people lived with henna all their lives. I guess this whole
henna thing is more cultural than religious. Being a Muslim, I knew
that our Prophet Muhammad had a love for henna - dyeing his beard red
all the time.
Your thoughts on this :)
Peace ...
~Jewel~
- Re: Henna in Singapore ... Shanon Lavender 11:19:18 10/06/99
(0)