Rangoli : An art which precedes sculpture and painting

A word Rangoli is derived from the Sanskrut ‘rangavalli’. Rangoli is an art which precedes sculpture and painting.

It is both an auspicious and a preliminary necessity in any religious ritual. It is a custom to draw rangoli at the site of any auspicious religious ritual such as a Diwali, holy or any religious festival, an auspicious function like wedding, ritualistic worship, a vowed religious observance, etc.

The two aims of drawing rangoli are revelation of beauty and the acquisition of auspiciousness. The forms drawn in the rangoli are symbolic. A curved line produces a better effect of beauty than a straight one.

Usually rangoli is drawn by a woman. They do not require any devices such as a ruler, a thread, a brush, etc. to draw them. They freely move their fingers to create various shapes with ease. A pinch of rangoli powder is taken using the index finger and thumb. As the rangoli is a coarse powder of special soft white stone, it can flow freely when slowly released from the pinch of index finger and thumb

The reason behind rangoli is when sweeping the floor or smearing with cow dung, subtle lines are created on it. These possess certain frequencies. As these lines are irregular, their vibrations too are irregular. These are harmful to the body, eyes and mind as well. To overcome these unfavourable frequencies if cones and auspicious symbols are drawn systematically with rangoli on the swept or smeared floor; the ill-effects of sweeping and smearing are overcome and favourable results are obtained.

There are several types of rangoli like lines, cones ,circles, flowers, leaves, trees, creepers, animals, birds, conch, Swastik, Moon, Sun ect.