Diwali is the festival of lights. Houses and neighborhoods are lit up with diyas and fairy lights and are a treat to the eyes. On the interior, people decorate their rooms with lighting, drawing rangolis, and pujas are offered to Maa Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity.
People deck themselves in traditional clothes and attire and dress well, have delish food, and a lot of sweets are exchanged between households as a way of wishing happiness and well-being to one another. Crackers are burst and people indulge in celebration all over. It is a time of togetherness and rejoicing.
While Diwali is a huge festival for Indians, it is practically incomplete without drawing eye-catching rangolis all over the house and especially in front of the goddess Lakshmi.
What is a Rangoli and why is it drawn for Diwali?
Rangoli is an art that is handcrafted for the auspicious occasion of Diwali. Rangoli is a folk art form that is also known as Kolam or Muggu or alpona. Colored rice, rice flour, colored sand, and/or flower petals, diyas, or lamps are used to create various artistic designs or patterns on the floor of living areas, courtyards, and corridors.
Sometimes even ready-made rangolis are found where the artist can have rangolis all over within minutes. The designs and patterns become one-of-a-kind depending on the creator’s interests. However, there are different kinds of rangolis depending on the regions of India.
Rangolis are not only meant to adorn your houses for Diwali but it is also considered sacred and is meant to bring happiness. It is also a sign of welcoming guests and deities and is commonly also drawn on the main gate of the house, on the entrance.
While rangoli designs are diverse and look breathtaking if done with precision, the good news is that you do not need to be a rangoli artist to have beautiful rangolis all over your house. It is the initiative and effort that matter.
Now that we are clear that we want to ornament our houses with rangolis for this Diwali, let’s find out 5 rangoli ideas to execute it.
Rice flour or clay
Bengal commonly uses rice flour refined atop chaal or clay and makes a paste by adding water to draw their rangolis that are called “alpona”. This is the most widely used method and is also used in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, etc.
Flower Petals
Flowers are natural beauty offered by nature. What makes them even more special is that they make amazing rangolis. People are resorting to making flower rangolis more and more now for the edgy but natural look that it provides to the rangolis. The various colors from the petals and sometimes even the leaves can be crushed and used to make different rangolis patterns.
Water colours and paints
This is the most authentic looking and mesmerizing outcome for a rangoli if drawn properly. Since it involves the use of brushes and colors and the entire rangoli needs to be precisely drawn from scratch, it is mostly drawn by professionals. If you mess a little bit with painting the edges or corners of the rangoli, it looks bad and disoriented.
However, if you can master the art or take the time to draw every line with concentration, then it might turn out just as great as you have pictured in your mind. Make sure to play with different colors to complete the look.
Mandala Rangoli
Mandala signifies “circle” in Hinduism and Buddhism’s ancient Sanskrit language. A mandala is a geometric design or pattern that traditionally portrays the cosmos or gods in various heavenly realms. According to artist Saudamini Madra, it’s all about finding calm in the symmetry of the pattern and of the universe.
As defined above, it is a holistic form of art and needs devotion. The surprising fact is when you see a full mandala, you will instantly understand the effort and concentration that it takes to make one. If there is one art that you can call out for its precision, it is mandala art.
Sorry to say, you cannot really experiment for the first time by trying to draw a mandala rangoli for the final day. It gets messed up very easily. Therefore you need to have a few practices to make the perfect rangoli. However if you can pull it off, nothing like it. It is the most show-stopping piece of art that you can have at your home and what a more auspicious time than Diwali.
Diya and mirror art
If you want to do something uncommon and unique for Diwali, try mirror and diya rangoli. Beautiful ready-made patterns of mirrors need to be bought and contrasting that, colorful diyas need to be lit surrounding the mirrors. The light from the diyas reflects from the mirror giving it a surreal look. This type of rangoli fewer experiments hence one more reason for you to go with it.
Though diyas and mirrors can be used separately for separate rangolis, combining the two makes all the difference. And the best part is you need minimal work and time to pull off a whole rangoli since both the components are ready-made and just need to be placed properly to look artistically well executed.
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