Traditional rangoli designs for Pongal

Pongal or Sankranti is such a grand festival in the South that we see three or four rangoli designs decorating the entrance of the homes and one of them can be a traditional lines rangoli design either at the entrance or in the Puja room for this special festival dedicated particularly for kolams.

Lines rangoli designs are probably the old method of making kolam.  Invariably they appear a bit confusing for some.  However if we view a video or the steps shown through images as I usually do for the benefit of all we may be pleasantly surprised to see that they are quite easy.

First kolam in this series from the Iyengar padi kolam designs.  There are have been many requests for this kolam .  This is a very basic design that I have drawn. As with any padi kolam we can draw two or four lines .  The free hand designs for this kolam can be according to our imagination.  However, we can have designs like lotus because lotus is associated with auspicious occasions and festivals.

Draw the curved lines as shown in the first two images.  The edges are decorated with basic lotus patterns and any other design of our choice.  Remember to decorate with kaavi .  It is a good practice to decorate padi kolam with kaavi .

The second rangoli is formed with lines .  It is not a classical padi kolam as we say because padi kolam invariably start with a square base and decorations are made on all four sides probably they are meant  to represent the top view of a temple .    Draw the four lines intersecting at right angles as shown in the image.

On all four sides draw four lines to get grid designs on the edges.  Connect the adjoining grids with curved lines as shown in the next two images.

Once we have connected all the four sides we can decorate the kolam with free hand patterns as shown in the subsequent images.

Add swastik patterns inside the kolam.  So this may be used for a traditional rangoli for Diwali too particularly for Laxmi Puja when we use swastik designs in rangoli

Rangoli designs for Pongal are usually big and elaborate , however we need some padi kolam or lines kolam for the Pongal pot because it is considered auspicious to prepare Pongal on that day with a new pot , newly cultivated rice.  So a small lines kolam with 4 by 4 dots pattern . ( chukki rangoli design )   This can also be drawn in the Puja mandapam on this special festival day.

Traditional rangoli designs also include the sikku kolam , we can draw one for the Pongal pot also.  Actually this kolam is ubiquitous during Margazhi kolam season till Pongal or Makara Sankranti.

One simple sikku kolam is shown in the image below.  The dot grid is five by five.  Then one dot is placed on all four sides at the centre i.e away from the third dot so that 2 dots remain on either side o all four sides of the kolam.  A beautiful and simple and  also one of the common kolangal.

The next traditional rangoli design with some modification in the sense some additions to the basic pattern.  Usually we have two long parallel lines and two horizontal lines intersecting the first pair of vertical lines.  Then we form some star patterns . I have developed the rangoli further with some lotus and other patterns .  The pictures show the step by step ideas for this rather beautiful design ,  I should say.  You may also find it elsewhere in a simpler form shared elsewhere in this blog.