Kolams

Kolam

A Kolam is a folk art using dry rice powder traditionally and chalk powder or white rock powder nowadays.For longevity, dilute rice paste or wet chalk are used.

Since kolams are thought to bestow prosperity to homes,even today,every morning millions of women draw kolams on the ground ,while praying silently. It is a form of meditation.Through the day, the drawings get walked on, rained out, or blown around in the wind; new ones are made the next day.

Kolams should preferably be drawn in coarse rice flour or atleast with rice flour mixed with chalk or rock dust.Rice flour is seen as an offering to  Lakshmi, the goddess of rice. In South India, where wealth is measured in terms of rice fields, Lakshmi plays an essential caretaker role to assure the family’s continued existence and survival. The goddess has the power to attract wealth and prosperity and to prevent poverty from entering the home.

By drawing kolams with rice flour,a person would be feeding the ants that will get their day’s food from these works of art and so the person would earn spiritual merit . The rice flour also invites birds and other small critters to eat it, thus inviting other beings into the person’s home and everyday life: a daily tribute to harmonious co-existence. It is a sign of invitation to welcome all into the home, not the least of whom is Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity. Read more of this post