iKolam.com - Sand art : Kolam and Rangoli designs

lata — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 05:34:53 +0000

Kolam is an auspicious art of decorating courtyards and pooja rooms/prayer halls in South India drawn mainly by women and girls. Some women use rice flour to draw a kolam, which is the traditional medium to be used while others use sandstone or limestone powder. Although commonly known as Rangoli in many parts of India, it is known as Muggulu in Andhra pradesh, Rangavalli in Karnataka, Poovidal or Pookalam in Kerala, Chowkpurana in Uttar Pradesh, Madana in Rajasthan, Aripana in Bihar and Alpana in Bengal.

Generally, a kolam is drawn with bare fingers using predetermined dots. The dots are either connected together to make a pattern or loops are drawn encircling the dots to complete a design. Nowadays there are perforated rolling tubes, perforated trays and stencils available to speed the process of making kolams. During festivals and weddings, rice flour paste is used instead of the flour. This tradition of decorating with kolams is passed on from generation to generation.

Our mission at iKolam.com is to preserve and educate about this important tradition of making kolam and rangolis. Membership is required to enjoy all the features available at iKolam.com. Registration is free and gives instant access. During registration you will be required to enter a valid email address, where an activation email is sent.

Please refer to the submission guidelines if you would like to see your creations in the Gallery.

Printable dot grids

lata — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 08:09:14 +0000

I am happy to introduce printable dot grids which many of you have been asking for quite a while. So, what is a printable dot grid? Most of the kolam designs for which step by step drawing instructions are available, still lack printing capability. A lot of members have asked for dot grids so that they can easily practice the kolam along the online instructions. I will be adding the printable grids as soon as I can make them. To begin with, you will find them in the following kolams: diya kolam, star kolam and some of the simpler kolams.

What is Kolam?

lata — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 23:18:29 +0000

Kolam is a form of design or pattern drawn with rice flour on the floor with bare fingers using predetermined dots. The dots are either connected together to make a pattern or loops are drawn encircling the dots to complete a motif. A kolam looks more or less like a sand painting on the floor.

iKolam.com has a large repository of kolams, rangolis and other related items. All of my work is collected under Kolam and Rangoli collection. We also have a large collection of kolams contributed by our members. They are categorized by member under Gallery.

We do require registration before you can enjoy all the benefits of this site. Here are a small set of kolams from my collection which any one can easily draw. You can find them here: Beginner level kolams. You don't require registration to view these kolams.