Henna body decoration is generally practised on festive occasions, religious ceremonies, most notably, weddings. In all cultures that practise henna painting it is the hands and feet that are commonly decorated; for weddings the designs can extend onto the arms and legs. Design motifs vary from culture to culture. For instance, North African Henna designs tend to be geometric or composed from highly stylised flowers. Indian designs are usually drawn within a square, rectangle or circle, which is then surrounded by a myriad of smaller patterns that cover the hands and lower arms, the feet and ankles. Motifs are taken from a vast Indian decorative vocabulary: Moghul flowers, Paisley patters, complicated tendril designs, stars, vines, spirals, leaves, chequerboards, water drops and waves.

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