(photographer)
The Raika women of Rajasthan have practiced tattooing for decorative, religious, and therapeutic purposes for hundreds of years.
They elaborate symbols onto their necks, breasts and arms and even faces signifying their strong faith in magic.
The ancient maze-like carvings on prehistoric rocks were copied by tribal communities on their bodies. They called the process gudna (burying the needle in Hindi) and flaunted the markings as jewelry – the kind of jewelry no one could take away from them even if they were to lose all their worldly possessions.
~ The Better India
__________________________________________________
✐✿ WCOV
The ancient maze-like patterns, found on the rocks dating back to the time of 1000 B.C., were later adopted by certain tribal communities in India as permanent markings on their arms and other body parts.
Different parts of the country have their own distinct patterns. Tattooing was practiced among the rival tribes to avoid the abduction of women from their community. Women getting taken away was a common occurrence. To avoid that, women of their community got covered with tattoos to make them unappealing to others.
The technic of applying a tattoo varies from a region to a region as well. I found this short and sweet article, yet rather informative. Take a look!