Kolam by Sudha Balaji

Big kolam with dots for competitions, festivals, functions  This rangoli or muggulu are suitable for New Year , Sankranti muggulu or Pongal kolam with dots when we draw big and beautiful designs 17 dots kolam designs - birds rangoli designs for competitions Kolam designs with big  dot grid are commonly used during Margazhi  season.  One such common kolam  , my kolam is slightly modified when compared with the original version.   The theme is using a pair of birds on all four sides with the remaining dots being used up with some simple patterns like flowers, leaves. I have retained the original birds but have modified the other patterns.  We can also have  nestlings too in this kolam.  The dot grid is 17 to 1. 17 dots kolam designs - birds rangoli designs for competitions step by step with a few images , it is simple with repetitive patterns  on all four sides and as usual the remaining dots  If you are looking for 17 dots rangoli kolam , 17 to 1 dots rangoli , 17 pulli kolam images or

Medium size kolam  designs for New Year , Bhogi and Pongal festivals  Kolam designs above 15 dots may ( can ) be classified under an intermediate category, they are neither small nor are they very big.   They can be  drawn for festivals like Margazhi, Ugadi or at the entrance of kalyana mantap ( wedding hall ) .   One such design below.  It is with a 15 dot to 8 dot grid ( The dots are idukku pulli type - meaning that after a row of dots is placed the next one is placed between the previous row of dots and below ( or above ).  Consequently, the number of dots reduce by one in each row - 15, 14, 13, 12 till 8 dots in this case.   I have shared the plain and white kolam.  White kolam designs are beautiful in their own way and are widely used in Tamil Nadu, daily.  In the kolam with colours I have chosen to hide the ribs drawn on the floral patterns by adding the colours.  We can also add the ribs again after filling the colours. There us  image represents an intermediate step of t

 Rangoli sans dots as the name suggests is all about rangoli without dots.  Some of the designs created by me few years back are shared here.   Free hand designs test our imagination. While white kolam can be drawn for daily purpose rangoli , we can draw the colourful ones for festivals like New Year. If you are looking for simple rangoli designs without colours for beginners that are new too these rangolis  may be the ones you are looking for.  Obviously most. kolam drawn by me are new particularly without chukki type  because they are all created by me . Some of them spontaneously others are recorded in many notebooks .  " Every time you come up with something new and different "  This is a sample feedback from one of my social media accounts.  The reason is I spend my afternoons practising , creating  Addition of colours have been shown in the images below.  The background has not been filled.  If time permits choose  a suitable background. 

  Simple rangoli motifs or patterns A collection of easy motifs that can be used in rangoli or kolam . The first image shows the patterns I regularly use in the free hand kolam I draw and share.  It is not a comprehensive collection. Spirals, paisleys , floral petals of various shapes, leaves , tendrils , flower designs , birds , dots , small lines are some of the common patterns. I have shown the close up of some the motifs used in the other images shared in this post.  In free hand rangoli we have patterns drawn  invariably on the periphery of the rangoli .  At the centre we can use the flower designs.  Congruity in selection comes with experience. Floral petals can be with one , two or three lobes.  We can also have clover shaped patterns.  The options are infinite. One pic shows how to draw bird motifs with single line and 2 line technique.  We can represent complicated ideas through simple patterns.  The feet of Lord Krishna or Goddess Lakshmi are drawn in rangoli kolam.  One of t

I wanted to create a simple rangoli with deepam ( or lamp designs ).  After several small designs I wanted to try a bigger design.  Hence the dot pattern is 15 to 1 The first image , a white kolam step shows how the outer designs are created. I think this one image will suffice to get an idea. This is also a simple kolam but again with influence of free hand rangolis in the motifs on either side of the lamps. As seen in the second picture it is beautiful without filling the central space with colours. for this activity we  need 10 to 15 minutes   Filling up the gaps will take some time and demands  patience! Two pics showing before and after filling with rangoli colours. Karthigai Deepam in Tamil Nadu is somewhat similar to Diwali celebrations particularly lighting diyas ( for those who are not aware ) There is a very good collection of traditional kolam designs and recipes for this festival in this blog. 

  Naivedyam for Navarathri and Fridays - Paal poli  The dough can be prepared with rava or maida ,  I have used rava in this post Chiroti rava is preferable .  If ordinary rava is used dry grind  in a mixer  Add a small pinch of salt , knead the dough, use a wet cloth to cover  Let the dough absorb the water for at least 2 hours Using a rolling pin roll the dough into small circular pieces Then using a fork pierce the flattened dough at a few places so that the holes are through This will prevent air from getting trapped in the poori when frying ( use of Physics, in cooking ! ) Fry the pooris , pressing them while frying to remove any little  air that may be inside The flattened poori is soaked in boiled milk Milk  is kept ready by boiling with  sugar , cardamom powder and saffron Let the  pooris soak for a few minutes, then  remove them. Garnish with pistachios , cashews and almonds for plating A tempting recipe for Diwali sweet  Fork is used to make holes , to allow air to escape wh

For  ten ladies are invited for Navaratri kolu we need half kilogram kadalai paruppu or bengal gram.  Soak for 30 minutes or for 45 minutes if sufficient time is available.    Since other sundal varieties require 12 hours soaking this can qualify as a quick sundal recipe too.   The soaked kadalai paruppu  can be cooked separately in a vessel adding  water for cooking or in a pressure cooker.  ( in a pressure cooker allow just two whistles ). In a vessel take two  table spoons of cooking oil,  one teaspoon mustard seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, two medium size  red chillies and curry leaves.  Add the cooked bengal gram after removing excess water.  Add salt to taste.  Cook till moisture is removed and this will be for few minutes .  Adding grated coconut enhances the taste Thirty to forty year ago sundal was distributed to guests in pottalam as we call it.  Now we  distribute it through ziploc  bags !  When we were young, we ( friends and I )  went to many  houses in the street .  Our ex

  First chukki rangoli is with 5 dots . In case we are trying first time for Diwali rangoli  and are looking for a simple design  a small version ( abridged version as my children say ) This kolam can be drawn independently or as the central design around which we can add free hand designs to get a bigger design the dot grid is 5,3,1 . An easy white rangoli design for the ensuing festival season. The second rangoli  is with  7 by 4 chukki rangoli The third design is 9 by 5 chukki rangoli .  Add colours to the white kolam to make it even more beautiful.  In my opinion white rangoli are beautiful in their own way. The fourth kolam is w ith dot pattern 15 dots - 3 rows then 13  , 11, 9 up to 3 dots. The rose buds are important for this kolam the other patterns can be according to our choice There were a few questions about my "team"  because I have many social media accounts for rangoli designs. My team has only two members Sudha and Balaji :)  i.e my husband and I.  His inputs

  Varmahalskmi Habba / Navratri decoration -  harathi preparation  Friday Puja procedure I use a small silver plate as shown in the image for preparation of aarti plate as it is also called , for Friday Puja and also for other festivals like Varamahalakshmi Pooja , every day during Navaratri , Sravan Sukravar Pooja  Add some kukkum in a small plate and mix it with water.  Apply sandalwood paste and kumkum on four sides of diyas  Place flower shaped cotton wicks or long wicks depending upon the type of lamps we use.  Add cow's ghee to the wicks, light the lamps and perform aarthi  or harathi .  We can sing suitable songs in a language of our choice or mother tongue  Harathi songs in Kannada and Pooja songs in Telugu are quite popular 

There is an artist hidden in all of us , creating and drawing kolam proves it . It is very easy to represent peacocks through rangoli The step by step  images below will show how to draw a white peacock with seven to four odu pulli dot pattern "Ethnic and homely "  " Beautiful rangoli and easy too.  keep up the great work .  All the best and good luck "   "Love the patience and time you invest in sharing these lovely pieces of art " .  These are some comments on Facebook When I  get such positive feedback for my rangoli designs , it is natural that I am motivated to create more and more kolangal. You may also be interested in 7 dots rangoli designs  or simple rangoli with 5 dots   or some simple kolam I draw daily at the entrance  This is the common mango leaf kolam theme that is converted into birds ( peacocks ) by replacing the leaf patterns with spirals with "feathers" to represent the tail and of course the crown to represent easily a bird s

 Two images giving 5 border rangoli ideas   In the first image the second  design can be independently drawn as a rangoli particularly for festivals like Republic Day  or Independence day because of the use of colours orange, white and green while the first design is a simple pattern. In the second image  three borders are shown. .  The first one is a simple design suitable for the circumference of a big rangoli.   The second one is a flower design with leaves on either side.  It can be drawn on the top or bottom of a rangoli or on all sides of rangoli.   The last one is a very simple design and is usually used as an extension along the periphery of free hand circular rangoli  This collection is in addition to many more ideas I have shared.  You can search in my blog for border kolam or border rangoli  or use the labels given at the bottom of the post to delve deeper into this variety of rangoli on this website.  Sometimes they are also  used as rangolis on  thresholds of doors,  exte

  Rangoli borders can be drawn at doorways too ( called vaasal padi kolam ). The doorway is also decorated with a rangoli design in addition to the rangoli drawn at the entrance.  Since only a width of 100 millimetre or so is available, very simple yet cute beautiful designs can be drawn in the available space. Doorways or doorsteps are given a lot of importance in our culture.  There is a custom of performing Pooja  to the door way and adorning with rangoli designs .  We also offer haldi kumkum and flowers particularly on Fridays. So we need lots of designs .  Since these rangolis have less height we can use them as borders for bigger rangoli. Beautiful rangoli designs with or without chukki are drawn for New Year and Pongal.  Usually they are decorated with borders at the bottom and sides.  We may use these ideas on those occasions too.

  Rangoli borders  may actually resemble jewellery in these parameters - beauty, intricacy.  Which of these two inspires the other  As usual these designs can be drawn for the doorway or door step .  Also we can use them to decorate a bigger rangoli We draw big rangoli designs for New Year and Sankranti.  It is customary to decorate them with borders at the bottom  or at the sides .   We need lots of simple designs for this .  Our imagination to create designs and patterns has no limits These designs can be bookmarked to try them on various occasions or festivals . May be they can kindle our imagination to create new designs side border kolam. Border kolam designs in this blog will invariably be without dots since the name is Rangoli sans dots ! However I have shared a few with dots too.   .                                                   

 "The old traditional way of making rangolis ... no wasting of rangoli, no fancy designs just simple and sweet " "Very nice.  Nowadays, people hardly draw freehand rangoli.  It is unique and much more natural looking " These are two comments from my Facebook Page Rangoli sans dots .   When I started sharing old type of muggu on social media I was hesitant because I was not sure whether they would be liked After more than a decade on social media ,  I am glad that I started sharing what I know and passionate about.   I have shared the colourful versions in another post in this blog.  Please give your feedback on the blog and this post in the comments section 

This colourful collection of  rangoli designs for door step can also be drawn for decorating a bigger rangoli . I have shared the designs with colour , you may use it as a white rangoli because usually we draw without colours for door ways. Drawing rangoli and offering Pooja to door step with flowers, haldi kumkum is quite common in southern part of India. flower patterns, usually lotus ,  leaves,  tendrils , spirals and a few other standard motifs are used because the space available is less . After drawing the kolam in white we can also decorate with kaavi ( ochre like colour )  daily or on Fridays at least. I also use neli ( wriggling lines ) on either side of the straight lines , particularly for door ways .  This practice I inherited from my mother  color border rangoli border muggulu with colours                       

  Many big muggulu with bright colours adorn many homes during this harvest festival season . It is more joyous because it is celebrated during spring. The climate is nice and cool in many parts of India.  There is a tradition of wearing new clothes and going to the temple as we do for Diwali  Drawing muggulu is also for  conveying messages through simple art drawn on the floor be it with tiles, cement or mud.  This kolam has all that are connected with Bhogi and Sanrkanti festival , namely Pot , Pongal , sugarcane , Sun  and  colours  Thee were requests from viewers on YouTube for a small pot muggu .  So I created this 7 by 7 design.  A compact one suitable for small spaces too. Nowadays space is a premium for rangoli designs , particularly in metropolitan cities.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  Viewers requests kindled my imagination and I created two rangolis one of which is shared here . White Pot muggu I liked the bright blue colour when I used it. Quality of colours is a