This is called "mehendi" in Indian marriage traditions. The marriage usually lasts for 7 days and one of the days is for mehendi and turmeric. You are correct that it is applied on hand and feet but women are getting bold these days and today's young really do not care about what parents think lol

@Tiramisu don't see the point ($$$ and time) since none of it will show anyway

@AnneWimsey People in those societies do it and don't think with reason like you do. Most dreams, wishes and the sense of right and wrong are built on brain wash, what others do and what is glamorized through movies, novels and people talk. They do not travel, so they don't really receive a cultural shock of how wrong they were (like I did).

I can talk for India. All this crap of expensive marriages with elaborate chores of traditions continue because this is how your dreams are made by others - by Bollywood movies where the actors dance and sing songs of happiness doing these things. The reality is women find the shocking contrast to the reality within the month after moving to husband's join family - which is the norm for 95% of women there.

It breaks my heart, my wife insisted on it too but I resisted like hell. I was in no mood or position to borrow money on credit cards from here and feed the town.

In the U.S. we do a similar thing with girl wanting a rock on her finger so she can show around. This is the fascination built by Oppenheomer's De Deers company with - Diamond is girl's best friend. After the 2nd world war, they did the same thing to Japan by running a 14 year advertising campaign. Now Japan is the 2nd biggest diamond ring buyer in the world after the U.S. Japan had the custom of exchanging rice on a leaf in marriages. That changed forever.

That's why I am very fascinated by the freethinkers movement. It is not just about freedom from religion but from all ridiculous things imposed on us in the name of values, traditions, good things and so on..