Nimble fingers deftly and confidently trickled the rice flour on the ground to draw lines that eventually resulted in beautiful, intricate patterns. Soon a stretch of Puthen Theruvu in East Fort was covered with 130 kolams, each one unique in its designing and make.
The kolam drawing competition, organised by the women’s wing of the city chapter of the Kerala Brahmana Sabha, had participants from all over the district. Only the venue was at East Fort.
“There are three kinds of kolams: vara (line), pulli (dots) and rangoli. Vara kolam, as the name indicates, is made up of lines that are joined together in intricate kolams while pulli uses dots to weave magnificent art on the ground. Coloured powder is used to make Rangoli kolams.
“The contest was for drawing vara kolams, also called ‘kanya kolam’, because that is the one used for auspicious occasions like marriages, baby showers, birthdays and so on,” says Gomathy Kothandaraman, president of the women’s wing.
On Sunday, the contestants, right from the age of 10 to 70, dressed in their best, began working on their kolams from 6.30 am onwards. All the contestants were required to be dressed in traditional garb such as madisar, saris or pavada and davani. By 8.30 am, they were all done and ready for the judges.
The first prize was bagged by Vilasani from Karamana, while the second and third prizes were won by Uma from Valiyashala and Saimeena from Sreekanteswharam. They won cash prizes of ₹10,000, ₹7,000 and ₹5,000 respectively. Three people won the fourth place for which they were given ₹1000 each. Ten prizes of ₹500 each were also given to the contestants.
A book on kolams, Kolams, Designs Divine, with more than 130 designs, authored by Janaki Sundareshan, was also released during the prize-giving function held later that day.
The book also has information about the kolams and their importance. It has been published by Pattom Ramakrishna Sharma.
“The Sabha helps indigent patients in the community for their treatment and to buy medicines. The sales from the book will go towards that fund. So we called it ‘buy a book, save a life,” adds Gomathy.
This was the third edition of the kolam competition.
The first and second contests were held in association with the Indian Institute of Interior Design. This time, they helped in publishing the book on kolams along with private sponsors.