World Is Connected In Dots And Lines

Kolam the traditional art is drawn in every house entrance be it a village or city and it requires patience and skill of the person to draw it in a systematic way connecting the dots with lines or arcs.Madras(chennai) which is the cultural capital of India conducts many festivals throughout the year and are centered around temples and sabhas. One such festival is jointly organised by Mylapore Times and Sundaram Finance is the Mylapore Festival in the month of January which is well received by the Public for many years.

In one of the Festival events is the Kolam contest for the Elders and Children and spread over a period of two evenings in the weekend.The place they use is the North Mada Street and The Eastern Entrance of Kapaleeswar Temple near the Temple car shed.

The city police makes arrangements to keep the road free of traffic for about 4 hours in the evenings. The contestants line up early with their rice powder and a sheet of paper with the design for reference in case they miss the count..

Yes indeed the Kolam needs counts,calculations and concentration and a passion for art and creativity.One can watch the women placing the dots in a systematic manner checking the counts every now and then and the friend corrects if she makes a mistake.

Many people mistake Rangoli with Kolam but that skill will not help as this involves mathematical calculation.One needs a proven kolam pattern,eye and finger coordination for the smooth flow of rice powder and the set of rules which has to be followed.

In villages people put the Kolam before the sunrise  and keep a pumpkin flower inserted in a cow dung at the center and around which is kept as a fuel once it is dried in the sun thus saving on Fossil fuels in Earth.

It has become a fashion for designers to use this traditional art prints in their merchandise thus spreading the design throughout Asia.There are people who conduct Kolam classes  and it is helpful in big conventions and draws everyone towards it.

Every year the number of participants keeps on increasing and many families in Madras take it as a pride to participate in the Kolam contest and show their ingenuity and drawing skills.

Yes the contest has a block of square and a time frame of 40 minutes with in which the participants are expected to complete without leaving any dots unconnected.Of late Males and Foreigners also take part in this contest during the Mylapore Festival.

The Kolam gives good exercise to the fingers and with Music it can be correlated to cure ailments and diseases,the researchers say.Many books have been published in Kolams.

This art on floor has brought many youngsters to compete with the elders and the trend is encouraging to catch them young.

There are some special Single line kolams which is drawn without taking the hand out and is completed in one master stroke.

It is a common sight to see husbands giving a helping hand to the ladies during this contest and the children encourage their friends  with suggestions and directions.

This year Me and my wife were interviewed by a Foreign tourist who was recording the event and I hope she would have uploaded it in you tube.So with India is opening up to Tourists with Visa on arrival facility

for many countries and Madras has receive the second largest arrival of Tourists one can plan the timing to see the culture of India at one shot by being here for Mylapore Festival.
This blog post is the copyright of http://tobeontheroad.blogspot.com. Reproduction in part or full of this blog post is strictly prohibited.All copy rights are reserved.When you happen to view this blog post in other sites please bring it to the notice of CHANDRAS @tobeontheroad@gmail.com.Your efforts will be greately appreciated.As always ,all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.