Hindu
The mehndi ceremony in Hindu weddings is known as the Mehndi Rat. The bride will have a party in which she is surrounded by all her female friends and relatives and is decorated in elaborate patterns by a relative or a professional mehndi woman. The patterns used for Hindu weddings are some of the most beautifully executed patterns anywhere. They are elaborate floral patterns covering the skin like red lace. During the Mehndi Rat, the bride will be ushered into her new life as a woman. She will learn the secrets of how to be a good wife, how to please her husband and what he will expect from her. The more elaborate and detailed the patterns are, the better wife the bride is thought to be. Intricate patterns take longer so the bride is thought to have had a greater opportunity to be enlightened on matters of love. Guests will receive mehndi, though these patterns will not be as ornate as the brides so as not to compete with her beauty.
Mehndi is widely used during pregnancy in India. On the first day of her eighth month, Athavansa, the expectant mother will be ritually bathed in perfumed water and mehndi applied to her hands and feet. The mother will be hennaed after she gives birth and then again on the third and sixth days. The naming ceremony will take place on the tenth day. This is an important event, the house will be ceremonially cleansed and the floors marked with cow dung. The mother will then step from her home with her child for the first time since the birth.