To Be
Wish You Happy Pongal
Inset of kolam featuring clay pongal pot and deepam
Pongal Tableau
Another inset of Kolam featuring the over-flowing pongal
A more linear tableau: sugar cane, pongal being cooked to over-flowing over a wood fire, the sun, and a plate of offerings
A few of the Pongal kolams drawn on two streets in Kuruchikuppam, Pondicherry
Kolam #79 on Beach Road in Pondicherry 13 January 2008
13 January 2008
There was a kolam competition early this morning on Beach Road in Pondicherry. Over 500 women (mother-daughter teams, friends, colleagues) participated in this annual event the day before the start of the 4-day Pongal festival. By the time I got to Beach Road in the late afternoon, most of the kolams had been destroyed by passing traffic, so all the pictures shown here (with permission) were taken by Policarpio (Tony) Soberanis, who was also too late to capture more than 230 of the 500 entries.
Most of the kolams were fairly traditional, with flower and geometric themes. Some competitors added a twist by using chopped flowers, fruits and vegetables, and grains in addition to or instead of the white and colored rice powder.
The second most popular theme was the peacock – the national bird of India.
These three also caught my eye. Is that a menorah in the middle of kolam # 206?
Happy new year from Pondicherry!
This kolam in front of the Shuddham office was done by one of the women (on her own initiative) employed by Shuddham to clean the streets in the Raj Bhavan ward.
Selvi, the Artist
Selvi started at about 5pm yesterday, sprinkling water around the area in front of the office to cleanse the thresh hold. In an hour, she was done, silver sparkles and all.
Detail of the kolam
In Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, women usually get up early in the morning to draw simple kolams with white rice powder. For special occasions, the designs become elaborate, and are done in color. From now until Pongal, the major South Indian harvest festival on January 14th, the kolam designs will get more and more elaborate until on the day of Pongal they fill up the entire street.
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