Rangoli- Origin and Significance

Rangoli is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘rangavalli’ which means a creative expression of art through the use of color. Rangoli is an art which precedes sculpture and painting. Rangoli is an artistic celebration of colors. It is both an auspicious and a preliminary necessity in any religious ritual. There is, across India, a rich heritage of art that is decorative and by its nature – the material used, the place it is created and the purpose for which it is created – temporary. The ephemeral in its truest sense, however, is represented by India’s tradition of decorative floor art.

Using simple materials that are at hand, this is art inspired by daily life, which marks the passing of time. Deliberately transitory, floor art transforms ordinary space into sacred space, but gradually disappears as people walk over the designs or may be purposefully erased as part of a ritual, denoting the impermanence of life and maya.

Cultural practices are common across the length and breadth of India. They also transcend regions. Indians love colours and its natural to show the love for colors in many ways. Indian rangoli is a unique art work which is practiced throughout India. It incorporates designs and patterns that are beautifully created and colored with paints, rice, flowers, fruits and vegetables, spices, grains, shells, lentils, coloured sand, tinsel, salt, chalk, coal, sawdust or white ash(obtained after husks of rice are burnt) at house entrances. This is done, normally by women usually during festivals to give it a traditional look.

On some special occasions, it is painted in every home with or without formal training in Rangoli art.

The two aims of drawing rangoli:

Beauty - elaborate designs and patterns created by the intuitive mind.

Auspiciousness/Spirituality – it has religious connotations; it is associated with religious festivals and also rituals associated with auspicious family functions- births, weddings and other occasions.

Exercise- The air that is breathed in and out while tracing rangolis in the wee hours of  morning is said to rejuvenate the person with ozone which is said to be abundant at that time. The way it is done  bending the body forward activates the Moolaadhaara Chakra in the hip region. The idea of a design has to originate in the brain, eyes have to dart in all directions, fingers must move to trace the design and a person should be able to bend well in the hip region and while giving the finishing touches,  the toes are pressed against the ground. From head to toe all part of the body are exercied and hence drawing rangolis is akin to yoga.

Rangoli emphasizes the combination of these three aspects.

Rangoli is an ancient Indian art form and is a part of the Indian culture. Rangoli also means -rang ( color) and aavalli ( row of colors, creepers). This art can be traced to the ancient Harappan civilization. Rangoli is mentioned in the Chitralakshana , one of the oldest Indian treatises on paintings, attesting to its ancient origins. Many a custom in an ancient country like India is often believed to have an ancient origin and is believed to have continued from time immemorial. On the same grounds it is generally believed that the custom of drawing threshold designs is also very ancient.

It is more like a custom to make a rangoli during festive times and that’s how it has been deeply embedded in our culture. The patterns are usually made on the ground in the middle of yards, to the bearings in the common areas or in the corners.

Rangoli is a floor painting which provides a warm and colourful welcome to visitors. In Indian cultures, all visitors and guests occupy a special place, and a rangoli is an expression of warm hospitality. In particular, Diwali- The festival of lights, is widely celebrated with rangolis, since at this time people visit, each others homes to exchange greetings and sweets and more importantly a rangoli is drawn to welcome Goddess Mahalakshmi, the Goddess of Fortune who loves colourful rangolis and neat and well maintained homes. That’s the reason there is a lot of cleaning prior to Diwali and nice Rangolis during Diwali. It is customary for indian women to draw decorated feet of Goddess Lakshmi-The Goddess of wealth approaching her door bringing in good fortune for her devote family.

Traditionally, a rangoli is drawn usually in front of the house- doorway and around the holy Tulsi plant on occasions and festivals. The threshold is a key concept in Tamilian Culture. Even historical Tamil Literature such as the 'Sangam Literature' (Tamil Literature in the period spanning 300 BC to 300 CE)  is divided into the "Akam" (inner field) and "Puram" (Outer field). That's not all. In one of Namalwar's (the fifth among the 12 Alwar saints who espoused Vaishnavism) hymns, the God in his poem is the God of the threshold. Ofcousre, every newly married bride formally becomes a part of the household when she steps over the threshold. Kolam deigns can be considered as a celebration of the threshold.

The rangolis are now used to decorate (apart from courtyards, thresholds and wards of indian houses) places of worship, sometimes exhibition halls, hotels, eating places and inauguration ceremonies aswell. In hotels, the decor focusses on offering a striking first impression. Modern hotels have cleverly adapted to rapid social changes with creative solutions. In the middle of large green walls, indoor waterfalls, large chandeliers, multimedia stations and extravagant entrance features, a rangoli stands out.

We may lift the creator of floor art to the position of ‘artist’, but ultimately she, or he, is performing a duty within the framework of domestic life for the welfare of the community and as an invocation to the Divine. We learn that “integral unity is not expressed only in terms of divinity and devotion; transcendence to such a state is also available through art. Since time immemorial in India, art has been a way to connect the manifest and the un-manifest, evoking through form, the experience that is beyond form.”

During auspicious days or occasions, the Divine principle of a specific Deity is present in the atmosphere in a larger proportion on the day of the respective festival or is attracted to the venue where religious rituals of that Deity are being performed. In order to attract maximum Deity principle, rangolis that attract and transmit respective Deity principle are drawn so that everyone derives spiritual benefits from it.

According to a Principle in Spirituality that ‘word, touch, taste, form, smell and their energy co-exist,’ even if a small variation is made in the form and colour of the rangoli, its vibrations change. The booklet ‘Sattvik Rangolis’ illustrates various sattvik designs of rangolis which attract and transmit various Deity Principles such as – Deity Ganesh, Deity Rama, Deity Krishna, et. al.

The main feature of sattvik rangoli is that due to transmittance of Deity Principle, the devotees get various anubhutis  (spiritual experiences) of Shakti (Divine Energy), Bhav (spiritual emotion), Chaitanya (Divine Consciousness), Anand (Bliss) and Shanti(Serenity).

Rangoli is nothing but spiritual distribution of colors. Most of the rangoli designs maintain symmetry, which means left and right side of the rangoli always look similar. It is same like yin and yang symbol, or swastika or Egyptian symbols where symmetry is important. Worldwide in all religions symmetric designs are a symbol of prosperity, luck and growth.

For over 38 years, I considered kolams to be just another ritual among the long list of rituals, Indian women seem to follow. However when i decided to dig deeper to understand the significance of kolam designs, I was surprised at what i discovered.

The patterns vary and are most of the time inspired by natural elements, but it can also be geometrical  or abstract figures. According to Devdutt Pattnaik, author and mythologists- " A downward pointing triangle represented woman and an upward pointing triangle represented man. A circle represented nature and a square represented culture. A lotus represented the womb and a pentagram represented Venus and the five elements.'.

Symbols, or Utswdhermita, which  are signs auspicious in Indian culture: flower and lotus, creepers, leaves, swastika, trident, conch shells, mango, fish, different birds like the peacock, swan, parrot etc. All over India, floor paintings are essentially white in color. White is a symbol of peace, purity and tranquility. The material used is rice flour or rice paste, because rice to all Indians is a sign of prosperity. Yet another symbol of prosperity is the color yellow. Turmeric yellow or ocher is also often used to fill in the white outlines. More often however, vermilion is used. Vermilion, is considered auspicious. Also used are pea green and rust brown. On occasions or in some parts of india, everyday, women draw and decorate their homes with rangoli, a reminder to live life in all it's colors for it is transient. Whenever you enter a house with rangoli, the colors used would bring tranquility to you as early rangolis only had colors from powders which were used in prayers. Turmeric, kumkum which were used in rangoli drawings are used as decorating items to idols. These colors used to bring certain tranquility in you as they remind you of temples.

 There is a practice followed in Amazon jungles. In the Amazon jungle ,there is an African tribe which draws art similar to rangoli in the middle of the forest after praying for nearly half a day. Animals in the forest invariably get attracted to this Art and Tribesman wait near the art patiently for the animal, to kill it and use it as their food. This tribe never hunts for animals but they make animals come to them through rituals of art. Rangoli had exactly similar science behind it for different reasons. While creating rangolis, ladies used to sing sacred songs and  believe that this will guard them from evil forces. While creating a rangoli, intention energy behind this creation is of, welfare of the family. When you create an intention spot, it is capable of changing your thoughts. That’s why temples, churches and mosques were created – to basically create energy centers which can aid your inner growth. Similarly -when you visit a church , temple or a hospital – your feelings and emotions in each of these places are so different because of the pool of energy available to you in each of these places.

A wedding calls for an elaborate rangoli which occupies a large floor space. This adds the fun factor to all celebrations. India being a diverse country the designs of rangoli varies from one region to another. Its not strange that each part of the country has its own style and way of drawing rangolis.

The Indian scriptures and Puranas (Hindu mythological literature) mention about the  evolution of this traditional art form. The rangoli illusions created today remind one of this practice in mythological tales.

1.   One of the 64 arts mentioned in ancient India is त浔′ुलकुसुमविलिवकाराः , i.e. Tandula (rice) Kusumavali (array of flowers), Vikara (transformation).  This is an art form of organizing an offering of rice and flowers. Rangoli appears to be an instance of this art form.

2.    It is believed that in the Mahabharata, among the methods employed in the palace decorations that made water appear to look like land and vice versa, was the painting of rangoli on the floors. The Indraprastha palace built by Mayan for the Pandavas employed this technique. This style of rangoli described in the Mahabharata was elevated to heights of transcendental illusion which, as per the tale, caused embarrassment to Duryodhana and further aggravated his anger towards the Pandavas.

3.   References to Rangoli  are seen in legends, such as in the - Ramayana at Sita's wedding pavilion where the discussion refers to rangoli there. Cultural development of Rangoli in the South originated in the era of the Chola Rulers.

4. The second story describes God in a creative mood and is one of his artistic spells, extracted the juice from one of the mango trees to be used as paint and created a picture of a beautiful woman on a wall. It is said that the painting was so magnificent that it put the heavenly maidens (apsaras) to shame.

5. The rulers of the Chola kingdom of southern India, encouraged the art of rangolis. Buddhist and some Hindu literature also states that the use of sand or powder as a medium depicts impermanence of life.

6. The story which explains why we draw kolam is found in the Hindu Puranas. The story is associated with the churning of the ocean by Devas and Asuras. Numerous items appeared during the churning of the ocean. When Goddess Lakshmi appeared from the churning, she requested Bhagwan Vishnu for a house to reside. Vishnu suggested her to reside in a house in which the entrance is sprinkled with cow dung (entrance is pasted with cow dung) and decorated with kolams. From that day onwards people began to draw kolams to invite Goddess Lakshmi into their homes.

7.  Some Puranas also state that Moodevi or goddess of misfortune appeared during the churning of ocean and she also demanded a house. Bhagwan Vishnu asked her to reside in those houses that are dirty and where they do not draw kolam in front of the entrances. 

8.   According to a legend recorded in Chitra Lakshana, the earliest treatise on Indian painting, a king and his kingdom were steeped in sorrow at the death of the high priest's son. Everybody prayed to Lord Brahma, who moved by the prayers, asked the king to paint a portrait of the boy on the floor so that he could breathe life into it. And with that the art of floor painting came to life. And that is how rice, flour and flowers were transformed into picturesque offerings to God in the form of floor painting.