Contest results

This year, for the Margazhi dew drops kolam contest, we had requested two of our members, who also happen to be non-participants of this contest, to judge the kolam contest entries. We are pleased with the way our Judges, Mrs.Rajamma Sitaraman and Mrs.Jaya Mohan had judged the entries, keeping in mind all the pertaining contest requirements. Before starting Judging, they noted the conditions. Two photos must be submitted with the following conditions: 1) The clear dot count before drawing the design should be given. 2) The final picture of the finished kolam should be given. 3) The Rangoli should fit into the theme "Pongal celebration". One person can upload 2 rangolis. It can be coloured or white. After going through the conditions they decided to evaluate separately ALL the entries, giving importance to the following aspects: a) dot count neatly and clearly drawn, b) design perfectly fitting inside the dots drawn, c) neat drawing and colouring and d) the design well depicting the pongal festival. The judges selected the first four placements in the following order (usernames): First Prize - Gomathi Krishna Second prize - Sudha Balakrishnan Third Prize - Drshireesha AND PremaPattammal (both share the prize) Special Prize - JKM Rao Few observations by our Judges: Mr.JKM Rao's rangoli drawn in PC is wonderful, very informative and with minute details. Nothing can be compared to this masterpiece done with utmost care after doing so much research on this subject. Hence He deserves the SPECIAL Prize. Smt. Gomathi well utilised the TWO upload option to bring into picture ALL the aspects of Pongal festival. Her dot counts, though drawn on paper with the design, are very neat and clear.But when it was drawn on the floor she mesmerized us with a design looking like a freehand drawing. Hats off to her imagination! She has scored well in the area of neatness and coloring too. Finally in both the rangolis, SO MANY aspects of pongal festival are very well depicted. Hence she deserves the First Prize. Smt. Sudha Balakrishnan has done a perfect job. Her dot count drawn on the floor is neat and perfect. The final product is just like a perfect picture with 100% symmetry in everything. Neat drawing and lovely coloring add the beauty. She has brought in the festival mood by depicting so many features of the celebration including the bulls/cows faces. Only missing element is the SUN God. Smt.Drshireesha has done an elegant design depicting the Pongal celebrations. Apart from the usual pongal pots and sugarcane, she well thought out to bring into her rangoli the kite flying, which is famous in North India during Shankranthi, and the cockfight, common in South India.The road side musician entertaining the public with his decorated bull gives the true festival effect! Nice coloring too! Smt.Prema Pattammal has done an unique beauty. Though she has given a dot count only for the basic center design her drawing is amazing. Only with white color she has created a wonderful eye catching design. very thin uniform ezhai and neat drawing are her plus points. She too has covered most of the pongal items in her rangoli. Others also have done beautiful rangolis, but in some aspects had not paid enough attention. Our judges did not want to discourage anybody by announcing the individual points. In IKolam ALL the participants are winners, according to our judges, and we couldn't agree more! :) Congratulations to ALL the participants! IKolam thanks all the artistic participants, all of our thoughtful commenters, and our fabulous judges!