Kolam by Sudha Balaji

 "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  white colour muggulu Without chukki white rangoli designs  white rangoli muggulu Rangoli design black and white images Small white muggulu White kolam without dots  Images white muggulu designs kolam with white rangoli powder  white rangoli kolam All the designs above have al...

This is a combination of two beautiful art forms  The   white mehndi rangoli design   is a totally different type of design and it does no conform to geometry or anything in nature.  I have tried some simple free hand patterns to which to spiral designs are attached outside and one inside.  The entire portion inside and on the spiral lines have some patterns on them that have been drawn spontaneously according to my imagination.  Hope it has come out well.  Mehndi designs are drawn with mehandi cone that is available in the market.   I wanted to try with  kolam powder few without chukki rangoli designs in white. To draw these designs apart from the quality of rangoli powder, dexterity and control are important factors 1) Henna mehndi rangoli designs Mehndi design rangoli simple  2) White rangoli with mehandi theme Mehndi design rangoli ka 3)  mehndi designs for hands with kolam as theme Mehndi design rangoli kolam 4) Mehndi ...

First a white rangoli design for competition.  Instead of the easiest, I start with a difficult type - double stroke rangoli in which the 2 lines are drawn simultaneously.   It is not easy to master.  Once we are comfortable with this technique, we will love to draw lots of designs.  This collection of 5 best and easy rangoli designs for Diwali decoration ideas for home.  Try them, colour them and place diyas all around.  Happy Diwali greetings in advance :)  "Each time I see a new design it makes me wonder how you must have managed to create such a beautiful work art " - recent feedback on social media.   It is quite simple, invariably every day I spend my spare time creating or trying to create different and new designs.  I have used many notebooks for this purpose.  I still have all of them.   Occasionally, I go through the old notebooks and pick one of them that has not been shared so far along with the latest rangoli desig...

A collection primarily comprising geethala muggulu for the festival.  You can save these designs for drawing on Fridays and functions too.   This rangoli website is a very huge collection of different types of rangolis.  Though I take a lot of care it is possible that rarely some designs may repeat in two different posts.   If you come across duplicates, please let me know.   Traditional rangoli designs with lines called padi kolam in Tamil are drawn for auspicious occasions and festivals.  They are preferably decorated with kaavi .  When these type of kolam are seen in the courtyard of a house, a message is conveyed that there is a celebration in the house. This collection can be used for one of the many rangoli we draw for the important festival for Goddess Lakshmi  Apart from the usual kolam at the entrance, I draw on the Mandap, before the Mandap and in the Pooja room also  You may also be interested in this collection i.e...

Two of the constraints that we face at present are time and space. Many live in flats and particularly if the entrances of neighbours  are very close space to draw our daily rangoli becomes a premium.  Similarly, time is also a factor in many homes because both husband and wife are office goers.  So, a few very small rangoli designs in this post for our vasal kolangal. Browse this rangoli website for hundreds or thousands (I have lost count!) of simple to difficult rangoli designs and techniques.  We can have some order for drawing our daily rangoli designs.  For Friday a small padi kolam with kavi . On other days we can draw small rangoli even with 2,3 or four dots with decorations inside and outside  We can also reserve couple of days for free hand kolam .  I do not draw sikku kolam on Fridays and festivals.  I prefer to use only kola podi to create kolam at the entrance.  Somehow it gives me a sense of satisfaction  doing it the tra...

 It is said that Goddess Parvathi requested Lord Shiva to tell Her a Vratha which when performed by women will ensure all good things and blessings. Lord Shiva said there is such a Vratha which has to be observed on a Friday preceding Sravana Full Moon.   She asked how to observe this Vratha. Lord Shiva narrated a story. In Magadha there was a town called Kundini.  All houses were built with and full of gold.  In the town there was a lady called Charumathi.  She was the most pious lady in the town.  She performed all her duties with devotion and so earned the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi Once Goddess Lakshmi appeared in her dream and said, I am Varalakshmi Devi.  Worship Me on the Friday preceding Sravana Pournami.  I will confer all riches and blessings (Money alone is not wealth).  There are sixteen blessings that are sought by us human beings.   Goddess Lakshmi in the form of Varalakshmi can give us all the 16 blessings (Go...

 Rangoli making tips and tricks 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 If you observe the pictures, the curved lines are also drawn without joints.  This technique of drawing straight and curved lines continuously without any joints is the hallmark of a beautiful kolam.  The more we practise the better we get at this technique.  Kolam art as it is called in Tamil Nadu, has a unique selling proposition, symmetry and thin lines and such lines reveal the dexterity one possesses.  Thick lin...

If you want to learn conch rangoli with dots, shanku chukki rangoli you may find the step-by-step pictures useful for learning.  These variety are drawn for New Year, Sankranthi or Bhogi festivals. We can also draw on Wednesday or Saturday if we have time to draw such a somewhat complicated rangoli. Star dot patterns can be augmented to get bigger grids in the shape of stars. Muggulu tips - Unlike other beautiful kolam available in this muggulu blog with this dot grid, there are no patterns at the centre.  All the dots are used up only to draw rangoli with conch designs. Consequently, we have to start radially and draw the shanka rangoli elements and cover the star shape as shown in the step-by-step illustrations.  In this context, shankam, chakra and namam rangoli is an auspicious muggu, drawn in Pooja room. How to make dots for rangoli The dot pattern is 9,10,11,12 then 3, 2,1 dots.  This is a smaller version of a bigger muggu. Since this is only for a demonstrat...

More than 80 percent of the designs in this blog are created by me.  Of course, we have common rangolis also including gantina rangolis which are common which may be around 20 percent. Whenever I get time, I try to create new designs listening to melodious songs that act as a catalyst.  Of the many designs I try only a few makes to the blog or YouTube or Facebook.  Rest is not used immediately as I am not satisfied with them.  Sometimes I modify with different sets of patterns. Nine chukki rangoli are common, these medium sized rangoli designs can be used for our daily kolam and also for festivals if we are looking for simple and quick kolams. The step-by-step pictures below Draw this easy chukki rangoli for festival - Dasara, Dipavali  I have added a few pictures because I think  the initial part of this rangoli design is tricky White rangoli themselves are beautiful with shading and/or decoration  One more set of pics showing step by step procedure ...

  How to draw small kolam  First 4 by 4 dots kolam . The design is explained in just two steps.   For our daily purpose kolangal. All are white rangoli designs with one or two steps  First one is without chukki with one intermediate step, the second design is a 4 by 4 small chukki rangoli .   We need lots of kolam for our daily entrance decoration. Going down the memory lane, we sisters used to sit around our mother to learn kolam for the month of Margazhi.  Invariably these kolam are big.   Big rangoli without dots were also drawn by us.  There was no limit to the size because we could expand the design  to decorate the entire courtyard which was spacious.  When I started this blog there were requests for small kolam  due to the space and time constraints most of us face in today's fast paced life.  So, I started creating kutty kutty kolangal Some ideas are shared here. chinna kolam poduvadhu eppadi pic 1 kutty kol...