Godna

Godna, also known as Khoda, is one of India's oldest tattoo traditions, practised for centuries by tribal communities across Northern and Central India and traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization and Vedic era references. Traditionally applied using a hand poke technique and practised mainly by women, the tattoos mark different stages of a woman's life, from a first mark on the forehead in girlhood to further tattoos at puberty, marriage, and childbirth, with each pattern carrying its own meaning. The same geometric, fine line vocabulary later gave rise to Godna painting, a recognized strand of Mithila art rendered on paper in dense, dark linework.