INDIA, January 29, 2020 (Indica Soft Power): The recent Pongal festival saw the lanes of Mylapore in Chennai adorned with kolams of different kinds. The gray asphalt glowed with the white powder, as the transient kolam was protected and celebrated. The very next day the lanes were reclaimed by vendors, residents, motorists, animals; canine and bovine. The annual kolam competition is over, and kolams return to their simple forms at the thresholds of houses all over South India. Nimble fingers continue to weave pulli kolams every morning, even before day break. Chantal Jumel, a French national, has authored two books on the sublime floor art – “KŌLAM et KALAM, ” and “VOYAGE DANS L’IMAGINAIRE INDIEN.”
“I learnt the basics of Kolam from a Tamil lady in Kerala. I was intrigued by this whole process of drawing patterns outside the home. This was strange as it was the only house to have a kolam, as the other houses belonged to Malayalis and they have no such day to day tradition. Because I was a woman, she taught me kolam so that I too could draw these patterns on the threshold of my home! I was fascinated by the calligraphic beauty of kolams done in the lanes leading to the Shri Padmanabhaswamy temple, Trivandrum and at the Meenakshi temple in Madurai. I asked for a grant to document floor paintings in Kerala and I continued with kolam. I came to Chennai to do that,” says Chantal. “Apart from the aesthetics, the significance of the kolams lie in what they communicate about the socio-cultural life of a Tamil woman. Drawing a kolam is a deeply personal exercise. To me it is a written language, a secret language to express or communicate with God which one understands by looking at the symbols. It is like mudras. Mudras are to call the Gods, likewise these kolams call Gods to the threshold” she states.
Much more at source.
https://www.indicasoftpower.com/understanding-south-india-kolam-by-kolam-chantal-jumel/
See also:
https://chantal-jumel-kolam-kalam.com/en/
https://www.youtube.com/user/paintings1008Kolam