Hamamönü Henna Mansions and Henna Night Organizations in the Context of Spatial and Functional Changes in Tradition

Henna night is a ritual related to marriage. In addition to being entertaining for the women who participate at the bride house before the wedding, it also has a sacred dimension in Turkish culture as it contains many mythological practices. Henna nights are organized before the wedding by the families and relatives of the bride and groom. While the traditions involved with henna nights have undergone numerous changes in terms of their content and function, the collective structure of the ceremony has been retained. One of the questions considered in this study of Hamamönü henna halls and henna night organizations is whether the organizations which were founded on the basis of the promise of “living, living the traditional henna night,” actually contribute to the preservation of the traditions of the henna ritual. In addition, the study establishes a general framework of the traditions of the henna ritual which provides a comparison of the practices of the henna nights held in henna halls with long-established traditions of henna rituals. The framework looks at the factors that have affected and shaped the developments of these traditional practices. It is concluded from the interviews and observations of henna organizations that the ceremonies held in the halls have changed many elements of the traditional henna night in order to emphasise spectacle and entertainment. This has meant that the henna nights performed in the halls have often moved away from the context of the ritual, and the many aspects of the original ceremony that are attributed to holiness and social aspects have been transformed functionally. Furthermore, many elements of the traditional henna ritual have been decontextualized due to the effects of the media, popular culture and commercial concerns of the businessmen, with new ones practices that are not in the original version being added.