Kolam and the Making of Tamil Femininity

 Kolam and the Making of Tamil Femininity

My marriage was arranged because of Kolam. I make good Kolam. So everyone saw and aunty said that I saw your Kolam and I want you be my daughter in law. ~ Swathi

Kolam, an ephemeral form of daily ritual art, practiced almost solely by Hindu women in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, has come to construct ‘ideal’ Tamil womanhood. Kolam is drawn daily by women on the threshold of their house, before dawn and dusk. As the quote above suggests, Kolam is central to women’s lives and constructs ‘ideal’ Tamil femininity. In this article, I explore some of the ways in which Kolam defines Tamil womanhood, how Tamil Hindu women relate to their practice of Kolam and how globalisation has affected women’s practice of Kolam. 

Tamilovium from Chennai says "Kolam making kept a woman fresh both mentally and physically.

 It was an enlivening activity for women drawing new designs each day and that little satisfaction one gets by doing it in the start of the day, gave nice enthusiasm to proceed with the routine regular household work". 

The Kolam was just not a design but a representation of sanctity, a life around good, sacredness, saying everything is well. The designs were either around pulli - the dot or making the designs from the nature. 

The lady was always wondernig in the mind to capture the nature or the sacred scenes around her like from temple, etc.Kolam was put everyday at the entrance of the house, in the pujai (puja ghar in hindi - worshipping room), near or around Tulsi (Ocimun tenuiflorum) and in the kitchen on chulah, the indian burner made of mud or bricks and to light it wood is used.

The lady of the house was also very careful about doing anna-daan through the practice of putting Kolam. As Kolam is put by rice powder or rice paste outside the house, it served as food/offering for ants, insects and birds. On the other hand it must have kept ants and insects away from coming in the house as they had probably got plenty to eat outside itself . 

While making Kolam she would be so engrossed that her womanhood came out automatically as what happens when a woman is within herself performing her own daily chores, which are her very private space. French priest, philosopher and political theorist Hugues Felicite Robert de Lamennais says 'Woman is a flower that breathes its perfume in the shade only' .

By just having a look at the Kolam in the household, elderly people or otherwise anyone could make out the nature of women in a particular household - how creative, patient, active, involved one is. On the other hand, a beautiful Kolam seen by others got the remark in awe 'lakshanam' meaning 'Sri'  (prosperity) in Kolam.