Henna night (kına gecesi)
The night, a few days before a wedding, when henna is applied to the bride’s hands; the best-known henna custom in Turkish culture.
The kına gecesi, or henna night, is held a few days before a wedding, when henna is applied to the bride’s hands; it is the best-known of the henna customs in Turkish culture [1]. Henna is the name both of the plant Lawsonia inermis and of the powder or paste made from its leaves; the word came into Turkish from the Arabic “hinna” [1].
Henna is not only for brides. It is applied to the palm of a boy at his circumcision, to young men being sent off to military service, on religious holidays and when welcoming pilgrims home. The foreheads, tails and legs of horses were dyed with it, and rams given as gifts were marked with henna. Henna-night feasts were also held at the circumcision ceremonies of Ottoman princes [1].
The custom has old roots. In ancient Egypt henna was used to dye hair and cloth and in mummification [1]. In hadiths reported from Aisha, henna appears as a sign that distinguishes a woman’s hand from a man’s; scholars took this as a recommendation for women to use henna [1].
The hand dyed on the henna night marks a passage from one life to another: a girl becomes a bride, a young man becomes a soldier. Henna therefore stands for both devotion and farewell. In North Africa and South Asia, the “mehndi” patterns drawn on hands and feet at weddings are the same plant used at the same kind of passage.