Kolam by Sudha Balaji

Mehndi designs were originally and traditionally drawn with a paste of leaves of the mehndi plant (called marudhani in Tamil).  Simple patterns like circles were drawn on the palm by placing the paste of the palm and forming a circle.  When the paste dried a light reddish coloured circle is the result.  The paste was also applied on the tips of fingers forming caps to get the colour around the fingers when the paste dried.  Such simple designs were there for quite some time. Later, only mehndi powder was available in the market.  We had to add water, \eucalyptus oil and make it into a nicely flowing paste.   Cones were prepared at home filled with this paste and use. After applying mehndi, lemon juice and sugar juice was applied to ensure that it stuck to the palm for a long time. After a few hours, it was scrapped out and not washed with water.  The next day a few cloves were placed on a vessel heated on a stove.  The palms were exposed t...