Kolam by Sudha Balaji

Traditionally double line kolam is drawn with white rangoli powder- Take two pinches of white kolam podi on the index finger and the middle finger.  Push with the thumb.   One of the two lines falls outside the index finger. The other line falls inside the index finger.   It is easy to fill colours in kolangal drawn with this technique.   A demonstration is shown in the photo below The lines should be discrete, separate.   When you practice for the first time you may not get two distinct lines but only a thick line.   The more you practice; this technique comes with ease.   It is a very beautiful traditional method.   In a very short time, we can create a lot of big designs.  I remember creating a double stroke kolam for Pongal at the entrance.   The size was 3 to 4 feet in radius.  I could do it in 15 to 20 minutes.  Later adding colours took some time.   I do it alone because the a...

  How to draw 2-line rangoli  Pick two pinches of while kola podi with index finger and central finger, push both with the thumb such that the powder falls between the middle finger and index finger (first line) and outside the index finger (second line). The lines should be discrete and should not smudge as can be seen from the images. Simple rangoli designs without dots for Dhanteras too.  The rangolis are simple but the technique of drawing parallel lines comes with practice.  What better occasion that the festival of lights to try something special  Green glass and gold bangles combination worn by me has become popular on social media, it appears. " I like your karakamalam with green and gold bangles " Rarely, when I changed the glass bangles with those of a different colour "This is not Sudha Ma'am's hand?"   It is our family tradition to wear green glass bangles.  On rare occasions I used to change them with red glass bangles but after the ...

Step by step images to draw these beautiful traditional rangoli designs  A beautiful  9 pulli kambi kolam ( in Tamil for twisted rangoli )  through pics  T he dot pattern is 9 dots 5 rows, 5 dots 2 rows then one extra dot on all four sides  Kambi kolam are the best kolam designs for our daily vasal kolam because once we practice we can draw small  and even some relatively big designs quite easily and in very little time.   An important factor to be taken into account since time is a premium for us nowadays.   Most kambi kolam have bilateral symmetry.  i.e they are symmetrical when viewed from two planes. When we travel by road through villages and towns these variety of kolam are ubiquitous. It is in cities that  we should revive this tradition of drawing kolam daily. Call them gantina rangoli , melikala muggulu in Kannada and Telugu respectively, these classical rangoli designs  may rank among the best in the world of...

Big and grand padi kolam can be drawn for important functions like marriage, grahapravesam.  This series of pictures should be self-explanatory.  D ecorate with kaavi powder mixed in water. Padi kolam or muggulu usually start with a square base and are expanded.   They are invariably drawn free hand and rarely with dots.   I will try to add some padi kolam with dots too.  Padi kolam can be drawn on all auspicious occasions like weddings, (marriage) ,  housewarming, and for festivals -  Ugadi  rangoli, Pongal kolam and any other festival. While elaborate and colourful designs with dots are drawn outside the house, we can draw such muggulu inside the house because such traditional muggu reflect the festive spirit to a great extent.  A simple muggu for Sankranthi festival season, the images showing the step-by-step procedure.  Actually, the final picture may be confusing to some but actually these designs are very simple, the on...