Kolam (in Tamil) is a decorative design drawn in chalk by female members of the family in front of their home, especially near the threshold.

A Kolam is a sort of painted prayer -- a line drawing composed of curved loops, drawn around a grid pattern of dots. They are generally symmetric.

Every morning in rural southern India, millions of women draw kolams on the ground with white limestone powder or flour. Through the day, the drawings get walked on, rained out, or blown around in the wind; new ones are made the next day.

When people get married, the ritual kolam patterns created for the occasion can stretch all the way down the street. Patterns are often passed on generation to generation, mother to daughter.

External links

• Kolam, A Mirror of Tamil Culture
• Kolam: Symmetry in Threshold Design in Tamil Nadu