Kolam
South Indian floor drawing in white rice flour, made fresh each dawn.
Also: pookalam
The kolam is a pattern of dots and looping lines drawn at the front door by the women of a Tamil household, usually before sunrise. The ground is swept and sprinkled with water, and rice flour is let fall through the fingers in a fine line, joining the dots in one unbroken curve. The patterns are said to welcome Lakshmi and to keep harm out of the house. In the month of Margazhi, kolams are drawn bigger, with colour. A related flower carpet, pookalam, is laid for Onam in Kerala, growing a ring larger each day of the festival.
Region: South Asia