Kolam by Sudha Balaji

  This is a huge elephant kolam (excuse the pun !!) with 21 by 1 dots.   One of the favourites for Sankranthi muggulu or Pongal kolam.  It is not very time consuming since the patterns repeat.  Once we know how to draw one of the elephants (of the herd !!) it is easy to draw the other elephants.   The patterns at the centre and those at the dots remaining at the four corners can be drawn according to our wish.   This is also suitable for New Year rangoli design if you are looking for big kolam I presume that someone who comes in search of grand kolam may have a long experience in drawing rangoli the traditional way.  So, the steps are in the reverse order :) I have shown only the white muggu.  We can add colour as we please.  That is the liberty we have in kolam art.  Elephants need not be grey; they can be filled with any bright colour. If you are looking for chukki rangoli big size, big pulli kolam designs with steps or big ...

What is kolam - Kolam means beauty, beauty due to symmetry.  The opposite of kolam means not in order, haphazard.   Hence kolam means in order, symmetry etc.  Neli kolam category and symmetry are synonymous. When you view a nelivu kolam (one of the many names for this variety of rangoli - called melikala muggulu in Telugu, gantina rangoli in Kannada) from any direction you will find symmetry -  it can be bilateral or quadrilateral and sometimes radial too in circular designs. There may be software for creating kolam particularly sikku kolangal, since I understand that there is Mathematics involved in this type. Frankly, I do not know the Math part to draw or create this art, I would request anyone making the software to ensure that the patterns produced strike a chord with the awesomeness of the art.  Let us start this post with a sikku kolam with 8 pulli first  chikku kolam simple or made simple  We can draw it for weekdays (Monday to Thursday, e...

A collection of very simple kolam that we can try for Margali masam (thingal).  These small kolangal can be drawn as kolams without dots.   Add colour to get awesome designs. While medium size and big rangoli designs are popular during this month.  Occasionally i.e. at least a few times in 30 days we may need small rangoli too. The first three rangoli designs can be tried as pulli illatha kolam .  I have shared only the white kolam.   Please add colours.  It is practically difficult to share all kolam with colours.  I will exhaust my stock quickly and will have to trouble my sister to send it from Nagpur :) 1) White rangoli without dots small - The photo of a white rangoli below shows an example of a 7 to 1 dot pattern. After the decoration at the four corners the result is an almost square design.  The lines have been drawn among the dots, so it appears as if the dots have been placed after the lines are drawn. Margazhi kolam simple in whi...

This kolam can also be drawn free hand.  I have used 7 into 1 dot pattern to make it little easy.  When we are looking for small and beautiful rangolis for Dhanurmasam or New Year . I think such designs fit the bill.  Of course, we can add colours instead of shading with white kola podi.    As a plain white rangoli it can be used for our daily purpose kolangal. Five, seven and nine chukki rangoli designs are among the most popular because invariably grid size is directly proportional to time taken and complexity. Invariably because there are exceptions to the rule and those exceptions are quite a few. Elsewhere, I have shared the image of the completed white muggu.  This post is meant for those who may want to learn the steps for drawing this design 7 dots muggulu images step by step 7 to 1 chukkala muggulu variety - step by step images. If I remember accurately, I created this design during the early days of this rangoli blog when readers and viewers on Y...

We may be looking for easy rangoli for Margazhi due to lack of space, the problem faced in cities or because we are drawing kolam for the first time and would like to join the month-long celebrations of Margazhi known for kolams also.  Whenever I find time, I come back to read the blog posts.  The idea is to update the post with more relevant information and images.   It is also a chance for my husband and me to correct any mistakes. While my husband takes care of the grammar, I look for any information that may not be presented properly or may give completely wrong concept. I am reminded of the famous dialogues in the Tamil film Thiruvilaiyadal, one of the lines being roughly translated to "Mistakes in grammar can be condoned but mistakes in concepts cannot be excused"  A very beautiful movie on the miracles of Lord Shiva.  I have watched in several times.  I have shared five simple rangoli .   The 3rd to 5th rangolis are smaller than the previou...

Drishyam or visuals are the best ways of remembering things.  I observed by mother and elder sisters draw rangoli designs daily and of course for Margazhi , Pongal festivals. For 30 days they made huge rangoli designs both free hand and with colours.  My task was to pick up the boxes with colours and give it to them, occasionally I was given the responsibility of filling colours in one element! I learnt observing them and then practising lines and patterns on my own on a cement floor.  I have come a long way since then. I have shared the step-by-step images for just one rangoli in this blog post.  A common pulli kolam drawn in our family for decades particular for Sankranti festival. Butterfly muggulu designs step by step Simple flower patterns and butterflies are matching designs in any rangoli.  A few weeks after the inception of Rangolisansdots as a kolam blog in August 2012 there were quite a few requests for dot wala rangoli.  Butterfly muggulu for New...

Sankranthi muggulu | Pongal kolam designs 13 to 7 chukkala rangoli.  We can term this as a medium-size rangoli based on the size of the dot grid.  Again, medium is a relative term.  I consider up to 15 dots as medium-size dot pattern. The two sets of illustrations for examples for rama chilakkamma muggulu for all festivals including Bhogi, Ugadi and New Year are old model chukkala muggulu, one is white colour rangoli and the other is a green parrot kolam. These two are common kolangal that were practised by our family during Margazhi season.  In the courtyard we drew one big rangoli, something like the examples given below and a small rangoli for the side entrance i.e. one for the main entrance and one for the side entrance.  It was really fun.   Some families on our street drew borders on four sides of the courtyard and then proceeded to draw a special design chosen for the purpose in the space among the borders.   We had a jolly time, chitc...

The dot grid is placed vertically.  It also comes under the category of sangu kolam or star kolams.   In case you have missed it in the title the dot pattern is 13 by 7  Rangoli tip: If you see the second image you will notice that I have joined all the dots with a single straight line with no joints.  If we practice thus, the kolam looks more beautiful.  I have not added colours but patterns with white kola podi.  We can try will colours too for Margali or New Year  For those visiting this blog for the first time, I have rangoli videos channels on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. Using the search terms "Sudha Balaji rangoli " or "Rangoli sans dots " should give relevant results on search engines.  Be it freehand designs or pulli kolam art, star-based patterns are quite popular. The first pic shows how to connect the dots after drawing the star template.  This is an important concept of the rangoli. From the star usually the lines are d...