Kolam Designs – Interesting and Creative Traditional Welcome Art
If you visit Tamil Nadu and take a walk in any residential locality, a common feature that you find in every house is a rangoli, called Kolam in this place. You can find various patterns, from simple to very complicated designs. On normal days, rangoli is made with only white powder, which is traditionally rice flour, but stone powder can also be used for this purpose. However, if it’s festival time, each design looks like a riot of colours. Usually kumkum and turmeric are used for red and yellow colors which are applied in combination with white powder. However, you also get a lot of synthetic colors that you can use to decorate your door.
Different patterns are made using dots and lines. In Tamil, a stroke or line is called Kambi or Sikku and a dot is called Pulli. Most rangoli designs have these two components. In some rangoli patterns, a kambi meanders through many pulli and finally ends at the starting point. This type of stroke is called neli because of the way the line meanders between the points. As the neli passes along the points, it encircles them to form a knot-like design. Any number of points can be used for this purpose. The pattern comes out in different forms. Typically, the longest dotted line is placed in the center and subsequent dotted lines are placed in descending order until the shortest line is reached. The points are placed one below the other. When the dot grid is done, you have a completely symmetrical pattern. Strokes are then used to connect the dots to form various patterns. One of the most common patterns is the car.
In kolam designs where lines are drawn between two points, the strokes are called Kodu or Kotto. These are short lines and only run between two consecutive points. In this type of design, geometric patterns and defined shapes are formed. There are also designs that are made with the combination of pulli, sikku, kodu, kambi and neli. The final complex image of the combination looks very beautiful.
Once you know the basics of placing points and connecting them with lines in different ways, you can invent and discover many combinations. Kolam designs are not restricted to particular patterns. If you think you can connect the dots and create a more complicated bird, go ahead and do it. Also, you can embellish your kolam designs with colors and different materials like pulses, grains, seeds, sand, sticks, lamps, mirrors, pebbles, and many other things. The scope of kolam designs is only restricted by your creativity and ability to innovate.
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