Kolam designs are a free hand drawing is truly an embellishing form of art proficient in South India. The term ‘Kolam’ means beauty and is another word for Rangoli. It is an old cultural tradition among South Indian families, though it is practiced in many parts of the country like Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Malaysia and so on. If you ever get the opportunity to travel to Tamil Nadu, you will be able to see this form of art practiced widely. Kolam designs are done through many different ways. For example, kolam designs with use of dots, rice, white color etc are very famous. It is a short of a form of a rangoli designs mostly done in the Southern part of the India.
What is Kolam Designs?
Kolam is a geometrical pattern made with dots using rice flour in front of homes, early at sunrise. Lines are drawn around these dots to make a beautiful image. As a matter of fact, Kolam consists of a single uninterrupted line. Women of all ages wake up early in the morning every day and wash the ground in front of the door with water. They then apply cow dung and finely ground rice powder, which attracts ants and other tiny insects to eat it. The rice powder or flour is used to prepare kolam designs to show the spirit of sharing with all living beings. Kolam is a form of Rangoli. A big collection of ranogli designs are covered by on rangolidesigns.net blog.
The other reason for creating Kolam is that it is a sign of welcoming people into the house, mainly Goddess Lakshmi Devi, who is the Goddess of prosperity and wealth. To avoid evil spirits from entering into the house, the lines should be completed and there should be no gaps in between these lines. Kolam designs are mainly round, square, triangular, rectangular or hexagonal in shape.
Unlike Rangoli, Kolam is all about harmony, attention and complexity. To prepare Kolam designs, women nowadays rarely use rice flour. Instead, they use chalk, vinyl stickers, and other modern interpretations. Additionally, cow dung is not so easy to get in some parts, so women use tiles instead.
The art of preparing Kolam designs is one of the criteria based on which a bride is judged in many rural areas even today. Today, women use colors as well to make these designs look attractive and pleasing. On special occasions, red brick powder and limestone is used as a contrast. The month of Margazhi that is somewhere between mid December to mid January is a vital month for women, especially unmarried females, who draw large Kolams, covering the entire width of the road.
Significance of Kolam
Drawing a Kolam design is not only an art, but also beneficial in the medical sense. To make Kolam designs, women have to bend and concentrate carefully, to create designs and bending can help eliminate back pain that is caused by the daily work done by them. Additionally, Kolam is designed in the wee hours of the morning, which means that the women will get fresh air to inhale, again, which is beneficial to them.
Kolam is also drawn in the puja rooms on a daily basis. They are considered to be a painted prayer. Kolams are popular for weddings, inauguration of hotel ceremonies, in temples, and have attracted even foreign tourists who have been fascinated with this embellishing form of art.
Kolam Design Examples
Let’s show you some of the best kolam designs examples are given below.
Kolam designs are very popular in South India. Some of the people also call it Pongal kolam. In a nutshell, it is a form of an art and has a religious belief attached to it. Most of the South Indian women prefer to make such designs every day at the doorstep of the home. It brings peace and tranquility in surrounding regions. For our readers, we have even attached a YouTube videos so they can check how kolam is made easily.
