Rangavalli
|
|
Rangavalli is an Indian pattern based on mathmatical grid structures. Influenced by Buddhist and Hindu imagery. There's a beautiful symmetry to the designs and they are used in handycraft and stitching as well as in gardens and on ground using flour or powder.
These patterns or designs were created in the olden days (according to Tamil literature) using rice flour. Holding a handful of flour in their right hand, the woman will uniformly drop the flour to make a line through her thumb and pointer and keep on moving her hands to make the curve or the dots. Nowadays, women use powder made out of stone. (Stone is crushed and sold commercially).
The patterns are very complicated and huge during festival months. The temples will have complex patterns that will cover thousands of square feet. Sometimes, several women together will create one large design. The patterns are also called 'Kohlum'.
When the symmetrical pattern is decorated in colors using colored sand or flower, then it is called rangoli.
The design or pattern is not always symmetrical. It could just be a continuous line that curves around to make a border or continuous line design. The 'threshold' design, as it also referred to, is compared to african sand drawings.