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Easy rangoli designs - beginners

Though I have drawn all the designs myself personally I am thankful to my family for the inputs, information and help in drafting all the posts so far.  I have used the terms kolam  rangoli quite freely in all the posts. Probably there would have been differences based on classical (!) explanations in the past but today kolams can also be colourful like rangolis both in the free hand and dots type  I find that even the terms rangoli kolam and kolam rangoli are used at  present. The only area where I think kolam are different are in sikku kolam and arisi maavu kolam. Both are beautiful, challenging and can be intricate . Rangoli is muggulu in Telugu and so this post will be useful for those in search of small and simple muggulu for beginners.  This post   may have answers  kutty rangoli /kolam designs The rangoli in the image below is one of the basic designs that can be used for learning.   Form a star with two inverted triangles.   ...

10 to 2 dots kolam 10 to 2 dots rangoli

10 pulli kolam for Tamil New Year 
Decorate with a kaavi border for festivals and Fridays.  The box like pattern using dots is the traditional design.  The outer free hand designs have been added by me.  

The dot pattern is 10 dots 2 rows, then 8 to 2 dots.  This post may also answer the following - chukki rangoli for competition with dots, Pulli vacha kolam for Pongal.

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 dot grid is 10 dots 2 rows ,   8 to 2 dots
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Draw a pair of horizontal lines outside 2 rows of 10 dots
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Similarly vertical lines outside the 2 columns of 10 dots

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The boxes have been formed
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Connect the centres of each side of the squares as shown in the picture below

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Extend straight lines on all four sides of the squares  to divide into two and four parts

10-dots-mugglu-images-1ag.png

This is simple geometry in kolam

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These type of designs are called the kalyana medai
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Decorations outside the basic pattern with spirals and flowers is according to our imagination

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A border with a line around the designs on all four sides

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We can use this as a daily rangoli also if we are looking for some medium sized rangoli for Tuesday or Friday.  
Also, for Diwali rangoli designs with dots, old fashioned kolam .

When I got married and moved into my in-laws' house, I found that my mother-in-law had used rangoli stickers in the rooms, since she had some health problems and was finding it difficult to bend down and draw rangoli.  I hesitated to remove the stickers to avoid offending her.  I started drawing kolam on the top of the stickers:) Once the stickers wore out, I removed them and drew on the floor. 

 For those of you who are not aware, we draw kolam at the entrance, on the doorways, at the centre of the rooms, on the kitchen platform and in the Pooja room.  Over time this tradition has evolved, and we now draw in the Pooja room and at the entrance only.  There is a practice of drawing new kolam daily in the morning and evening in some families and even today some draw at the centre of rooms for some festivals. 

 As they say regimentation suppresses creativity.  Flexibility is the imbibed in our culture.  So, customs and traditions are simplified to ensure continuity.

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