Mehendi Designs: Every Style Explained

Arabic mehendi is a free-flowing henna style built from bold floral and leaf trails that run diagonally across the hand, leaving generous areas of bare skin between motifs.

Rajasthani mehendi is a dense, highly detailed Indian style where almost the whole hand is filled with fine lines, figurative scenes and traditional motifs such as peacocks, kalash pots and palace windows.

Moroccan mehendi is a geometric henna style made of bold straight lines, diamonds, triangles and lattice grids, usually drawn in solid blocks rather than delicate florals.

Indo-Arabic mehendi is a fusion style that combines the bold outlines and open trails of Arabic henna with the fine, filled detailing of traditional Indian designs.

Pakistani mehendi is a fine-line style with tightly packed fillers, delicate florals and lace-like detailing that covers most of the hand, often combined with a cleaner Arabic-style outline.

Khaleeji mehendi is a Gulf-region henna style built from large, thickly outlined flowers and leaves placed with plenty of open skin, often finished with solid-filled fingertips.

Mughal mehendi is an ornate style inspired by Mughal architecture and miniature painting, using arches, domes, lattice screens and formal floral borders arranged in tiers up the hand.

Indo-Western mehendi is a contemporary style that mixes Indian henna motifs with Western design ideas such as lace, jewellery-inspired chains, mandalas and deliberate negative space.

Indonesian-Malaysian mehendi is a style that mixes Arabic-style trails with small, solidly filled flowers, leaves and dot clusters, giving a bold but tidy look.

Sudanese mehendi is a bold African henna style with large, solidly filled floral and geometric shapes that cover the hands and feet in strong blocks of colour.

Gujarati mehendi is a traditional, densely filled style common at Gujarati and Jain weddings, featuring auspicious motifs such as the kalash, shehnai, peacocks and the bride and groom.

Maharashtrian mehendi is a balanced, traditional style used at Marathi weddings and festivals, built around lotus, paisley, kalash and coconut motifs with neat, moderately dense fills.

South Indian mehendi covers the region's henna traditions, from the simple round palm dot and filled fingertips of gorintaku to temple-inspired bridal designs with lotus, mango and lamp motifs.

Punjabi mehendi is a bold bridal style with full coverage up to the elbows, featuring peacocks, florals, doli and chooda-friendly wrist bands, applied during a lively mehendi function with music.

Marwari mehendi is a heritage bridal style from the Marwar region of Rajasthan, known for complete coverage, fine figure work and rituals in which the groom's name is hidden in the bride's design.

Full hand bridal mehendi is a design that covers both palms, the backs of the hands and the forearms, usually up to or past the elbow, and is the centrepiece of a bride's wedding look.

Back hand mehendi is any design applied to the back of the hand and fingers - the side most visible in daily life and photographs - ranging from a single Arabic trail to full bridal coverage.

Front hand mehendi is a design applied to the palm and inner fingers, the placement that develops the darkest, richest stain because palm skin is thicker and absorbs more dye.

Finger mehendi is a minimal design applied only to the fingers - as rings, bands, vines or capped tips - for a subtle look that takes just a few minutes.

Feet mehendi is a design applied to the tops of the feet, toes and often the soles, usually matching the hand design for brides and ending at the ankle or extending up the leg.

Full leg mehendi is a bridal design that runs from the toes and feet up the shin to the knee, creating a matching set with full-hand bridal mehendi.

Half hand mehendi is a design that covers the palm or back of the hand up to the wrist, without extending onto the forearm, and is the most common choice for guests and festivals.

Bracelet mehendi is a jewellery-inspired design that draws a cuff or chain around the wrist, often linked by fine lines to a central motif and finger rings like a haath phool.

Round tikki mehendi, also called gol or chakri mehendi, is a classic design with a filled or patterned circle in the centre of the palm, often surrounded by petals and finished with capped fingertips.

Peacock mehendi features the peacock - India's national bird - drawn with a detailed fanned tail or curled neck, used as a central motif symbolising beauty, grace and love.

Lotus mehendi uses the lotus flower (kamal) as its main motif, usually drawn as layered pointed petals in the centre of the palm, symbolising purity, prosperity and new beginnings.

Mandala mehendi is built around a mandala - a circular design of concentric rings of petals, dots and patterns radiating from a central point, usually placed on the palm or back of the hand.

Jaal mehendi uses a repeating net or lattice pattern - squares, diamonds or scallops - to fill large areas of the hand, giving a dense, lace-like texture.

Paisley mehendi uses the teardrop-shaped keri or ambi motif - often read as a mango or a flame - as its building block, usually filled with fine lines, dots and petals.

Floral mehendi is built from flowers, leaves and vines - roses, sunflowers, jasmine buds and creepers - arranged as trails, clusters or full-hand compositions.

Geometric mehendi uses straight lines, triangles, chevrons, dots and grids to build clean, modern patterns rather than traditional florals or figures.

Dulha-dulhan portrait mehendi is a bridal design in which the groom is drawn on one palm and the bride on the other, so the couple face each other when the hands are held together.

Hidden name mehendi is a tradition in which the artist conceals the groom's name or initials within the bride's design, and the groom is challenged to find it.

Baraat and doli mehendi is a storytelling bridal design that depicts wedding scenes - the groom's procession, elephants, musicians and the bride's doli (palanquin) - across the arms and palms.

Shaded mehendi uses thin, light layers of paste - instead of solid fills - to create gradients inside petals and leaves, giving the design a soft, three-dimensional look.

Minimal mehendi is a clean, small-scale style - a single motif, a fine vine or a few finger bands - that keeps most of the hand bare and takes only minutes to apply.

Glitter mehendi adds cosmetic glitter, gel colours or adhesive crystals on top of or alongside henna, creating a sparkling, temporary finish for parties and receptions.

White henna is not henna at all but a white cosmetic body paint applied in henna-style patterns; it sits on the surface of the skin like lace and lasts a day or two instead of staining.

Kids mehendi is a set of small, quick and playful designs - tikkis, stars, butterflies, cartoons and simple vines - applied with natural henna for children at festivals, birthdays and weddings.

Groom mehendi is the henna applied to the groom, ranging from a single shagun dot or palm circle to minimal line art, the bride's initials or a small motif on the palm.

Negative space mehendi builds the design from bare skin: the artist fills the area around a shape with henna so the motif appears as un-stained skin, the reverse of a normal design.

Karva Chauth mehendi is festive henna applied a day before or on the morning of Karva Chauth, featuring symbols of the fast such as the moon, the sieve (chalni), the karva pot and the couple.

Teej mehendi is festive henna worn for Hariyali, Kajari and Hartalika Teej, featuring monsoon motifs such as swings (jhoola), peacocks, rain clouds and leafy green vines.

Rakhi mehendi is festive henna applied for Raksha Bandhan, usually quick half-hand or finger designs, sometimes with a rakhi, brother-sister or name motif.