Welcome to the Rangoli Designer

The word _Rangoli_ comes from the Sanskrit word _Rangavali_ meaning "line of color". The earliest clear reference in Indian literature to an art form like rangoli occurs in the Kamasutra, written in the 3rd century CE, which lists among the 64 art forms tandula-kusuma-vali-vikara, meaning “making lines of rice powder and flowers.”. It is a form of floor art, a folk art that adds religious and cultural meaning to daily rituals. It is usually practiced by women and associated either with daily cleansing of the house before prayer and worship or with major life events and festivals. The art is mostly practiced with mixtures of white and colored powder but somtimes also with colored chalk.

The main characteristic of a Rangoli is that it tends to be ephemeral in nature. Intricate patterns are laid out in colored powder usually in high traffic areas like the front of a house or a common courtyard. Through the day, footsteps and wind disturb the pattern and in many cases, the Rangoli powder is swept away the next morning and a new one laid out in its place.

There is great diversity across India in the patterns that emerge in Rangoli. Patterns laid out every day tend to be simpler, monochromatic and more geometric in nature, and larger, more elaborate and intricate patterns are laid out for special occassions. The latter often tend to be efforts of groups of women as a social activity for major festivals and life events. Traditional patterns usually include icons of gods, animals, flowers or plants.

This site focuses on one particular form of Rangoli called "Dot Rangoli", or Kolam in Tamil. This form uses a grid of dots as the basis for the design, with intricate patterns drawn around the dots. This site makes it easy to design the patterns digitally. Click on Design to start designing!