Tiruvannamalai Local Customs

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The decorative artwork drawn on the floor in front of houses in Southern India is called "Kolam". Usually the woman of the house would early in the morning clean and draw these often very beautiful and intricate kolams using finely ground rice flour. and the floor would be somewhat wet because of having been sprinkled with water. Sometimes colors are added. Young girls learn many of these artwork from their mothers and grandmothers, generation after generation. I read that "The tamil month of "markazhi" (Dec(Jan) is particularly important when fairly large size Kolams are put in front of the houses, with additional decoration of Kolams with yellow flowers of pumpkin", as seen in my one photo which I took during early December. I really enjoyed looking out for this "art" form. I was also surprised to see a young girl do a Kolam in front of her house during the afternoon heat.