Wedding in Brod, a village in the Gora region of Kosovo, 1966
Women in the Brod village in the Gora Region of Kosovo are decorating a bride’s hands and feet with henna in traditional patterns as a part of their wedding rituals. 1966
The women applying the henna on the bride are called knarice, from the Našinski word for henna; kna. Gorani women are one of the few left in the Balkans that still practice this custom, although it isn’t as usual anymore. At one point it was a common tradition for most Balkan Muslims to apply henna to brides as part of wedding rituals, however it wasn’t usually applied as patterns. This tradition came from the Ottoman Turks but has died out amongst most Balkan Muslims today, while it’s still remembered as an old tradition in their culture, especially by elders. It is sometimes performed as an act by young Bosnian Muslims before folklore dance performances; to showcase old traditional wedding customs.
