Drawings on the floor
As I was saying, flower drawing usually hapens for festivals. However what is more common is drawing with rice powder in front of your appartment / house door. I have not yet understood how the thing stays on the ground but it kinda stays like chalk although it is not. Women (one of their first job for the day, performed at dawn) lay rice powder as a sort of blessing.
There is something in India about naturally providing food to animals. For example, in villages, you regularly leave something to eat at your front door for the cow to eat. And if I recall well, those drawings are made of rice so ants stay out of the house.
PS: I am not sure anymore about what is the actual material used. I believe it is rice powder but if an Indian native could confirm, it would be nice. I could use details on the purpose too ;p
posted by Pierre at
18:30
2 Comments:
Bon,je crois que je vais enfin participer à ton blog...
essai N°1
élina
By
Anonymous, at 12:03 AM
Native Indian says- "Yeah- it's made of rice flour! It's called KOLAM.
Here are some more kolam patterns.
Before drawing the kolam, certain preliminary exercises have to be done. First, the ground has to be swept clean of sand, stones and other debris. Next, it has to be wetted with finely sprinkled water, so that the pattern stays put. And finally, the "kola maavu" is taken out. Using finely ground rice flour, intricate patterns ("kolam") are drawn in the front of each home. Curves, lines and dots - myrid shapes are created using a combination of all three. From a simple 3 dots by 3 dots pattern to an elaborate 21 by 21 (and maybe more!), drawing a kolam is a delicate and backbreaking process. The pattern usually depends on the lady who draws it and her expertise with the flour. The beauty of this practice is not its aesthetic appeal - but also its usefulness to even the smallest creation. The patterns are drawn in rice flour so ants and birds can feed on them."
By
Anonymous, at 5:58 PM
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