Kolam by Sudha Balaji

                                                                                                                                                This is a beautiful traditional kolam , a bigger version of what is called Parijatha Poo kolam.  Can be drawn for important festivals like Pongal, New Year and Deepavali .  Adding colours will make it really awesome to look at .  Draw the curved lines connecting the relevant dots in a single stretch .  This will enhance the beauty . (Tip to make this kolam beautiful ) If we join the dots separately joints will be visible and the lines may also be of different thicknesses.  

The images below show the difference in the size of the dots depending upon the quantity of kola podi we use. If we take minimum quantity of kola maavu dots look like this If we take more rangoli powder dots are thick and some times look like small lines.  When we join them with lines , they are not covered entirely by the lines The gap between 2 dots should be uniform to the extent possible  When we place a dot grid , for example  for 7 to 4 dot grid, place the 7 dots first and then the remaining dots above and below for better symmetry.

  How do we get thin lines in rangoli.  It is a simple trick. For drawing thin lines we have have to take minimum kolam powder.  This way we can draw thin lines.  The more kola podi you take the thicker the lines will become. Also lines should be drawn in a single stretch without joints.  If there are joints we try to hide them with kolam maavu and the lines will become thicker Thin lines in kolam are called ezhai.  An ezhai is a single strand in a thread.  Two images as examples

chukki rangoli with 11 to 6 dots , made easy through these images I was pleasantly surprised when this kolam became popular on social media.  May be there are many people who search for simple and easy medium sized rangoli too. It is usually the small rangoli designs that attract lot of attraction.  After all there are many beginners particularly of the younger generation , who want to learn .  So they start with small rangolis Extensions to the design in the form of flowers and spirals make it even more atrractive  An easy rangoli I created . It usually in the afternoon or at night ,  I create rangoli designs both free hand and dot rangoli.  Many notes books have been used up.  Only a few I share on social media.  The step by step images should be helpful if there is any doubt.

 The images above show how we can create a simple rangoli with just 5 dots.  The more the decorations we add the more beautiful the rangoli looks.  One more design for drawing at the entrance.  We should make it a habit of drawing rangoli daily at the entrance , some or many of us may be doing it already.

  Rangoli with dots is called chukki rangoli in Kannada.  These images show how to draw a small and beautiful rangoli with 7 by 4 dots.  For our daily entrance rangoli one more design that you can make a note of . The three pictures above show a very simple rangoli .  I have started with drawing lines outside the dot pattern instead of connecting them.  As they say regimentation suppresses creativity !! You can try this without colors as daily chukki rangoli or for festivals like Ugadi, Sankranthi if you want a small and easy kolam. Rangoli tip :  It is a good practice to draw without moving around the design for small and medium sized rangolis 

A relatively big padi kolam for decoration below and a small and beautiful kolam above A small traditional kolam with lines             The kolam below is a variation of Krishnan Dindu, starts of as a padi kolam at the centre                                  As with any festival decorate with kaavi