Karthigai Deepam special kolam 15 pulli
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 and crackers (for those who are not aware)
There is a very good collection of traditional kolam designs and recipes for this festival in this blog.
The brownish colour rangoli powder which has been used to fill the gaps as shown in the picture above is not a particular colour. It is a mixture of the colours used to fill the designs. I store the mixture in a separate container and use it when I think it is relevant.