Kolam - Floor Art of our Culture
Kolam, means “beauty”, is a floor drawing made from white / colored flour, and is used for Ornamental or ceremonial design during traditional Indian festivities.
Kolam is a symbol of auspiciousness. It is Hindu belief that the geometrical patterns & designs applied with rice flour at the entrance to a home, invites Goddess lakshmi into the household, and drives away the evil spirits.
It is mostly a South Indian tradition, practised widely in Tamilnadu. Kolams are also applied daily in the pooja room near the lamps. There are specific kolams attributed to the various deities.
Traditional Steps for drawing Kolam
Traditionally, the women wash the path in front of the house. (Cowdung is used to clean up the ground, though this practise is no longer in vogue in the cities, mainly because cowdung is not easily available & most entrance path are now laid in cement or tiles.) Finely ground rice powder is then used to apply kolams. This practice is followed in the evenings also.
Reason for using Rice flour
⌛ The reason for using rice flour is that we are providing food for the ants & other small insects.
⌛ In these days finely ground white stone powder is used, for this is easier to apply & also the kolams are brighter & well finished. Even if ground stone powder is used, one could mix rice flour in it.
Maakkolam - Kolam on Special Occasion
In places, where there is a great gathering of people & movement, rice paste made by mixing rice flour with little water is used to apply kolams. This is to ensure that the kolams are not rubbed off easily. This is especially applied in temples & wedding halls.
During Krishna Jayanthi, tiny feet symbols are drawn using the rice paste from the entrance of the house leading upto the pooja room, where the sweets made for the occasion are placed. It is assumed that child Lord Krishna walks into each house & partakes of the meal provided.
Margazhi Kolam Utsav
The month of margazhi (mid Dec) is a gala time for all kolam lovers in the cities and villages.
Women start applying huge beautiful kolams very early in the morning undaunted by the chill morning dew.
They start learning kolams and make preparations overnight testing the kolam on paper so that they can do a perfect job the next morning. There is a healthy competition in each street, each trying to outdo the others.
The current trend is to create colourful rangolis (rang - colour in Hindi) applying colour powders to fill up the white outlines.
Types of Kolam
There are several types of kolam designs available in our Tradition.
1. Dot kolam / Pulli Kolam
Line kolams, the free hand drawing of lines to make a geometrical pattern. Pulli (dots) are arranged in a specific sequence and order & these pullis are joined to make pictorial designs.
Dots can be arranged in Straight pattern(in tamil it is said as "Ner pulli") or Interlaced pattern (in Tamil it is said as "Sandhu pulli") to form a design.
2. Sikku Kolam
Forming of twisted chains by linking one loop with the next & forming wonderful This is called Neli, chikku, sikku, kambi or chuzhi kolam. originally evoked the spiralling of life forces and the aspiration for an evolution in consciousness. Today they are often used to protect the home from thieves, evil spirits or unwanted visitors, as is the spiral in the Sumerian and Egyptian cultures.
These kolams are a kind of curse catcher, or an emotions screen, to keep the household safe, pure and serene.
Negative spirits are not necessarily wandering outside the house. The ill feelings in ourselves itself can bring in negative energy.
These kolams are drawn as a wakeup call so one is be purified in mind and thought when one is in their presence.
3. Rangoli Kolam
Rangoli designs can be simple geometric shapes, deity impressions, or flower and petal shapes (appropriate for the given celebrations), but they can also be very elaborate designs crafted by numerous people.
The base material is usually dry or wet powdered rice or dry flour, to which sindoor (vermilion), haldi (turmeric) and other natural colours can be added. Chemical colors are a modern variation. Other materials include colored sand, red brick powder and even flowers and petals, as in the case of flower rangolis.
4. Weekday kolams
There are also kolams for each day of the week and for propitiating the planets.
5. Tantrik Kolam
There are the tantrik kolam designs with syllables of mantras for prayers to specific deities.
6. Manai Kolam
These are kolams drawn in different areas in a wedding house.At the time of weddings and other auspicious events at the homes, temples, etc., a central motif is drawn in front of the manai, which is called the `manai` or the `padi kolam`. (The `manai` is a wooden plank used for seating individuals, specially the couple, and the priest who is performing the marriage.)
The manai is also decorated with parallel lines at both edges to indicate its sacredness.
These manai kolams are drawn with the help of the raw rice powder, Manjal (Turmeric), and Semman (Kavi).
For all types of kolams we may apply Kaavi (brick red powder) as an outline, especially on special occasions and pooja days.
Kolam in Hindu Phislosphy
📗 As per the Hindu tradition the raw rice powder used to make the kolams is partaken by many ants, insects and birds, and they bless the people in that house. This is considered as an act of Dhaanam/Dharmam – charity as per the Hindu philosophy.
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