Hana-Bandan - Iranian Henna Bridal Party

These henna designs were applied by Suhayr, a wonderful friend of my eldest daughter.

Recently, I had the great pleasure of helping my dear friend throw a  حنابندان hana bandan/bridal shower party for her beautiful daughter, Parisa. It was a fabulous evening of music, dancing and delicious food.  Hana bandan/hana bandoon is an old Iranian pre-wedding ritual dating back to several hundred years ago. The henna ceremony is usually held by the bride's family the day before the wedding and henna paste is applied on the bride's hands and sometimes the groom's hands and feet as the family gets ready to send their daughter off to start a new chapter in her life. This tradition may vary from region to region and from household to household. It's believed that applying henna brings good luck and happiness to the newlyweds.

The subject of hana bandan seems somewhat obscure in our culture and there's little information available about it. After some research and inquiry, a good friend of mine gave me a copy of the hana-bandan page from Mahmud Katiraie's book, "Khest ta Khesht," which is written in Persian and is about Iranian culture, traditions and folklore. According to the author, the day before the wedding the groom's family sends over the khoncheh (large wooden tray) of henna to the bride's home. Khoncheh would carry the seven brass or silver bowls of freshly prepared henna adorned with silver and gold coins surrounded by different colored lit candles. The henna designs would include the images of a sparrow, tree or a flower. Iranian henna designs are simple and not very elaborate and intricate.

 Boy Holding a Falcon, Iran, Late 18th century, Qajar Dynasty, Hermitage Museum

'The Shirin Painter,' A girl acrobat balancing on a knife, c. 1840 (Source)

Probably by Mahammad Hasan, period of Fath 'Ali Shah, A mother and child with parrot (Source)

For those who are interested in the subject matter, there's an informative article on the online encyclopedia Iranica about Henna. There's also an interesting article, The Patterns of Persian Henna by Catherine Cartwright-Jones, that examines the art of Persian henna from the late 13th century to the mid 19th century and asks for further research. The paper offers several references to henna by the great classical Persian poets such as Roudaki, Jami and Sa'di along with several paintings depicting hennaed hands. Based on the author's research the art of Persian henna precedes the Hindu intricate henna designs by several hundred years. With the spread of European cultural influences and urbanization, hanna bandan ceremonies became unpopular and demode, a thing of the past. Today in modern Iran, many of the young Iranian women find the use of henna distasteful and old-fashioned.

Nighttime in a Palace, Iran, 16th century , Harvard University Art Museum 

I had never attended a henna ceremony in the past. However, my experience with henna goes back to my childhood growing up in the south of Iran. Every summer, my mother who was a huge fan of henna would apply henna throughout my hair and would leave it for several hours before washing it during those hot summer days. She believed using henna would nourish the hair and the scalp and work as a natural hair conditioner. On the day that I was packing to leave for America she tucked some henna into a canvas bag and placed it in my suitcase filled with the things that I thought I wouldn't be able to find here.