Kolam – a famous ritual in Tamilnadu

Tamilnadu is the well known for the kolam design. Creating kolam designs in front of the house in the morning time has become one of the most important traditions of our Tamilnadu state. The kolam is made with the help of the powder of the rice flour. The kolam is popular in the southern parts of the India. Mostly this art is performed in the Kerala and Tamilnadu. This is common among the Hindu people of Tamilnadu who are residing in the individual houses. In most of the cases the female members who are present in the house draw this kolam design in front of the house. The kolam designs constructed gives glory to the family and the god's gift is poured. There are usually two types of kolam in Tamilnadu and the kolam which is drawn with the help of the colors. The below image shows the kolam with the perfect colors and beautifully designed.

Happy pongal Kolam

This is the image of the kolam that is not given color but looks extremely extraordinary. The beauty of the image can be measured based on the color and the colorless kolams in Tamilnadu. It is purely based on how perfectly it is designed.

Kolam

How to create the Kolam powder

There are some certain methods to create Kolam powder in Tamilnadu. The kolam powder is mostly prepared with the help of the rice flour by the house wife and the grandmother in the house. This kolam powder can be made in house itself or it can be made from the powdering machines that are available in the shops. There are also kolam powders available in the shops in Tamilnadu. They make the readymade kolam powders and pack them and sell them. There are certain procedures to be followed if the Kolam powder is made in the house itself.

Following are the steps to prepare the kolam powder in the house.

Step 1:

Buy the rice flour from the shop and it can also be some low quality rice that we are going to use for the creation of the Kolam powder in Tamilnadu.

Step 2:

The kolam powder should be put into water and kept inside water for nearly one hour.

Step 3:

After one hour you can find that the Rice particles gets loosen up.

Step 4:

The wet Rice particles are taken and grinded in the mixer or in a grinder.

Step 5:

The powdered particles of the rice are taken and that is poured in a cloth or in a sheet to dry. If the cloth is used for drying then the drying process will be very fast.

Step 6:

The flour powder is then taken to the sun for the drying purpose.

Step 7:

Then the dried powder is taken and contained in a box.

This is the preparation process of Kolam Flour that is used in the Tamilnadu for drawing beautiful kolam designs in front of the house.

Creating color powder for the kolam

The color powder is also one of the important parts of the Kolam design. The kolam color powder in Tamilnadu is bought from the shops. There are almost all the colors available in the shops and they are collected from the shop. The color powder cannot be added to the coloring part of the kolam just like that fully. The color powder is taken and it is mixed with the fine sand particles.

Color powder 1

The color powder is mixed with the very minute sand particles because if the whole color powder is applied to the kolam that does not give a good glow. Some of the ladies mix the color powder with the white Kolam flour but that will not give a good glow. There will be white patches everywhere if the color is applied. It is not advisable to create color powder by adding the colors to the kolam flour. It is good if you add the color to the sand to get the good glow.

Color powder 2

Some people put the color directly in the kolam without mixing it with anything. This will also create patches in the kolam that won't look good.

Importance of the Kolam in Tamilnadu

Kolam is considered to be one of the important and sacred rituals in Tamilnadu that is done in every morning in front of the house in order to bring the prosperity to the house and the family. There are many reasons on why this particular ritual is performed in the house. It can also be said that the kolam that is drawn in front of the house can help to drive away the bad power from the house.

Vazhga valamudan kolam

With the help of this beautiful Kolam that is drawn in front of the house the bad powers are driven away and the protection is done to the house by the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi. Every day the Goddess Lakshmi is brought to the house for the prosperity of the house with the help of the Kolam.

Patti on kolam work

The female of the house performs this line drawing in front of the house daily. Even though they are busy with some work in the house they don't forget to make this kolam ritual in front of the house daily. If they are extremely busy they make it very small but it will be definitely done.

When are these Kolam gaining importance?

Tamilnadu is famous for the rituals and the festivals. To tell the exact fact the Kolam gains the specialty during the special occasions and the festivals in the house. In the festival season the very big kolam design is drawn in front of the house. During the festival time there will be lots of ladies gathered in the hindu family and all the girls and the ladies sit together and make a plan on what type of the kolam is going to be drawn. After the planning is done they start the execution process.

Group Kolam

In the management term it can also be told as the group discussion and the group work. They plan among themselves on what to be done and who is going to take the kolam designing and who is going to take the coloring part. This is definitely done as the group work by splitting the work. The color combination is given based on what is necessary to the kolam.

Kolam designing procedure

The kolam designing procedure is also an art in Tamilnadu. In management studies some terms are maintained and all those terms are used in this particular kolam designing in Tamilnadu. The following are the steps and terms that are used in the designing part of the kolam in a particular house during the special occasion.

• Group Discussion

• Analysis

• Design

• Implementation

• Testing

• Maintainance

Group discussion phase of Koalm design

The group discussion step involves the step in which the ladies of the house plan on what to be done and which type of kolam should be constructed. In this group discussion step the ladies also split the work among them so that the work is split and done easily. This is one of the time conservation processes.

Working on kolam

Analysis phase of Kolam design

In this particular step the Grandmother of the house and the old ladies of the house make an analysis on which type of the kolam is to be chosen and which kolam design can be implemented and they also plan on giving the color to the kolam. Coloring the kolam is the most important step because that will only help in giving good look to the kolam. Patterns are also drawn in a paper and finalized.

Kolam sketch

Design phase of Kolam design

In the designing procedure the ladies sit and think what on how the designing should be made. The previous day night the ladies sit together and give a rough sketch for the kolam that they are going to draw. The extra views and the ideas are also given by the youngsters. Sometimes the man of the family gives some suggestions regarding the kolam design.

Design

Implementation phase of Kolam design

In the implementation step the kolam is planned to be drawn in a particular floor. Then the ladies start up with the kolam implementation work. They just put some small points in the sequencial manner which is called as the Pulli in Tamil which means dots. This is used for the easy creation of the kolam. The specialty of the pulli kolam is that the kolam can be started and completed by anyone. Usually if a work is started by any person it should only be completed by that particular person but in the case of the pulli kolam that can be finished by any person because everything comes under the same idea. Then the coloring part is also done so that the appropriate color is chosen and it is given accordingly.

Implementation

Testing phase of Kolam design

In the testing procedure the men of the house are called for some suggestions and the grandmother of the house is called to make some suggestions regarding the design and the color combination. If any changes can be made then it is made and the modifications are implemented. This procedure is called as the testing strategy of the kolam design. In the testing procedure the proper testing is also made on the criteria that the design is made as planned or not and if possible some of the good modifications can be made.

Beautiful design kolam

Maintenance phase of Kolam design

This step involves the giving of the perfect glow to the kolam that is constructed. The kolam is ultimately given the best outfit by giving the final coating to the outline after the coloring part is over. The main important thing is that the kolam construction is made on the wet sand so that the colors are giving a good glow and the colors and the kolam powder sticks to the ground and it cannot be removed very easily. The kolam is also protected from the others so that they don't stamp on the kolam or involve in activity of destroying the kolam. The glow of the kolam persists till the next day morning.

Peacock kolam drawn

Education in Tamilnadu

Tamilnadu travel guide

Entertainment in Tamilnadu

Recent articles

Kolam – a famous ritual in Tamilnadu | Kolam Designs | Pongal Kolam Designs| Rangoli