Rangoli Floor Art Analysis

Rangoli- The Floor Art

Rangoli is an ancient ephemeral art form practiced throughout India. It involves drawing designs onto the ground, usually using colored powder or chalk and is often embellished with rice, candles, sand or flower petals etc. The main purpose of drawing a rangoli is decoration, and it is also believed to bring good luck. Traditionally, rangoli is drawn by women. This practice is showcased during some special occasions such as festivals, marriages and other family and community gatherings. After Rangoli is drawn, the image is simply allowed to get blown away by wind or get spoilt by playful children. This serves as a metaphor for the impermanence of life.

We use art of rangoli to mark the importance of various religious

In America, the Native Indian men used to invite friendly spirits by drawing patterns on floors and thus cure the patient. In Australia, the aborigines, in order to depict their dreamtime stories used to created dot paintings. Near Cuba in the Haiti Island, the priests drew design on the floor, which were obliterated by the dancer. In Africa, the aborigines painted the floor with magic diagrams for the rites of fertility and creation. In India, the tribals, still follow various similar practices.

Athough floor painting was practiced in many cultures across the globe; it has survived only in India. This floor art of Rangoli is practiced across India. It has its significance related to more than just aesthetic and decorative purpose. The word Rangoli is a synonym for any traditional Indian floor art.

The tradition of Rangoli is carried forward by women. Women kept this art alive by passing the expertise down through untold generations. No brush or no tool intervenes between the hand of a woman and the ground. The Rangolis are often walked on by family and friends, and then it becomes blurred and finally disappears but still gets renewed the next morning. Generally it is drawn in the front of the main

They favored oral tradition and rendered alive each phenomenon with intuitive and graphic description. Aryans are believed to give Rangoli a new form by using it for decorating the Vedic altars with various shapes like lines, triangles, circles, semi-circles, squares, lotuses etc. drawn with the help of grains, flour, turmeric, vermillion, flowers and leaves. Aryan used to match the shape of the altars to the geometric shapes of the Rangoli.

Since the time of Aryans, the art of Rangoli has survived till today. It is still practiced all across the country although for different occasions and different purposes.

Regional classification of Rangoli - Northern and Eastern India

India’s diversity in geography and topography gives ample room for different styles of floor art. Although some characteristics are common across the country but each region gives different importance to patterns based on its customs and faith.

In the Himalayan region, the common folks of Dogra draw paintings on the floor, walls and ritual places etc. Women sweep the floor and brush it with cow dung before making the floor art. Then hangaiyan patterns are made which when dry look like a beautiful mosaics. After the pattern is made, no attempt is made to protect it and often it gets spoiled by playful