Between The Rangoli Lines

THE PRACTICE OF DRAWING ARTISTIC PATTERNS AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE HOUSE IS NOT MERELY A WOMEN- CENTRIC ACTIVITY BUT ALSO A PRACTICE THAT HOLDS WITHIN IT DEEPER LESSONS ABOUT AND FOR LIFE

- Devdutt Pattanaik

Every morning, in my neighbourhood, I find a woman painting pretty patterns using rice flour paste just outside the door of her house. She is from Andhra Pradesh and she calls it muggu. This practice is seen in millions of households across India, mostly in the South where it is also called kolam. The patterns extend beyond the doorway to the walls of the house too. It is called alpana in Orissa and Bengal, aripan in Bihar and rangoli in Maharashtra. Once, this was a daily practice. In many parts of rural India it is still so. But in most parts of India, this practice is restricted to festival time, Diwali being the most popular one. Other times are Kojagiri, the full moon before Diwali, and Krishna Janmashtami, the birth of Krishna. These patterns are also seen during weddings. This practice of decorating the threshold is seen even in Parsi households.

The patterns are done only by women. And the material used was once rice flour, but now synthetic powders, even paint, are being increasingly used. And for the busy household, there are readymade sticker bright rangolis.

Does this have any logical purpose? Yes, say the rationalists, who say the rice flour is meant to feed ants so they do not enter the house. Does it have any aesthetic purpose? Yes, it enables the homemakers make the house pretty.