Rangoli the art of colours
I remember when I was small my aunts used to draw some designs on the floor using rice paste which was diluted using water. These designs were made especially when there was some puja at our home. As I belong from a Bengali family ,these designs used to become more fabulous during Lakshmi puja. After Durga puja ,Lakshmi puja is another especial puja for we Bengalis .This is mainly celebrated inside the home with friends and family so the work is divided among the members accordingly. In our home some of us were busy in collecting flowers, some in cleaning, some in cooking, some in cutting fruits and vegetables, some in decorating the puja place and some in drawing the floor art. Though it sounds simple but it’s a tough job.These floor designs are known as alpona in Bengali. If you visit any temple or any puja pandal you might come across such designs.
Alpana is derived from the sanskrit word alimpana. Traditionally this was created using rice paste but now a days people have started using other materials too to design these. If I take myself to my child hood days I remember my grandmother used to soak little rice in water for four to five hours. Then she used to make paste out of it after which the design was drawn using this rice paste. But as I grew up I came across many more things which made our task easier. One of such material is the clay chalk which we can get from the market. We just have to soak it in the water for few minutes and then you can use it for designing the floor art. People also mixes glue to the alpona paste or to the clay mix to create a permanent design. Other than these fabric colours are also used now a days.
After my marriage when I shifted to Mumbai again I came across such kind of floor arts. Though Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city its cultured too. Here people are always busy with their work. But when the question of festivals come they are no less than people of other cities . During Diwali they prepare so many types of mouth watering snacks but at the same time they also decorates their houses. And the most attractive thing is the floor art. They decorates the entrance of the house by creating floor art.But it is little different than what we do.
Here I saw people using powders of different colour to create it. “Creating floor art using powders !” I was totally astonished to see it. I felt like there was some kind of magic in their hands. They can create anything and everything using these powders and at the same time it would be colourful and attractive.In Maharashtra these designs are known as Rangoli. Generally Marathis , Gujaratis and Marwaris create such kind of floor arts.
After few years we shifted to Bengaluru. Its a IT city situated in southern part of India.As the days passed by I came little nearer to the people of this place and came to know about their culture. South India is known for its temples , its flowers and its aromatic idlis and dosas . As the days passed by I came little more closer to the people of this place and came to know about their rituals and culture.One of the ritual is to wash the entrance of the home daily early at the morning and drawing a design on the floor. Again the process these people follow to create these designs are different. Here they use only rice powder to design the same.
It feels like they have some kind of magical wand in their hands. Within seconds you will see them creating some geometric design and at the end the design is ready. Here also these floor arts are known as Rangoli.
One more ritual which the South Indian ladies follow is to put flowers on their hair every morning after bath. Earlier this was followed by all the ladies everyday but now due to modernization it is restricted to only during festivals.
Being in South India I came across various kind of floor art but the art which fascinates me the most is the flower Rangoli. These are mostly created in Kerala. These are designed using various kinds and colours of flowers. It takes lot of effort to create these and its time consuming too. The beauty which is created that cant be explained.
For me each of the Rangoli has its own beauty and each one of them needs lot of effort to be created. It’s the symbol of art and culture of our country. My Incredible India . It’s really beautiful.
