Rangoli is a traditional Indian form of folk art.  Also known as kolam in some parts of South India, rangolis are designs and geometrical patterns that are painted on the floor, usually outside the front door or outside the front gate, to welcome guests to the house, to bring good luck and to drive away evil spirits. Rangolis are often painted with rice or vermilion flour and colourful powders, but lime or ground white stone can also be used. Fresh flowers are often added to rangoli for extra effect.

The word “rangoli” is thought to come from two Sanskrit words: rang (colour) and aavalli (row). In India, it is considered auspicious to decorate the entrance to the house with a rangoli. Fresh rangoli are painted every morning on a clean floor outside the front door, or outside the front gate of the house on the driveway that has been swept clean.

During the five-day festival of Diwali, or Deepavali, rangoli are especially colourful and inventive. Diwali, or the “festival of lights”, is one of the biggest festivals in India and in Hindu communities around the world, and usually falls on October or November. Diwali rangolis are painted not just for good luck, but to welcome to the house the goddess of wealth and prosperity, Lakshmi, who is celebrated and honoured during the festival. Diwali rangoli can involve intricate designs and complex three-dimensional geometrical patterns, and are often painted in an array of colours. Fresh flowers or flower petals and coloured grains of rice can be used to decorate Diwali rangolis, and Diwali oil lamps, or diyas, are placed on top of the rangoli patterns on the ground. Diwali rangolis can even be painted in the shape of giant diyas, although most common rangoli patterns are geometrical shapes. Beautiful, colourful rangolis decorate the outsides of most houses and buildings in India during the five-day Diwali festival.

The origins of rangoli as an art from are recorded in the Chitralakshana, the earliest Indian treatise on painting. According to a legend associated with the origin of rangoli, a kingdom was grieving after the son of a high priest had died. Everyone in the kingdom prayed to Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe, and asked him to give the dead boy his life back. Brahma asked the King to paint a picture of the boy on the floor, and then filled the portrait with life, bringing the boy back from death.

Sources:

Rangoli.co.in

Diwalifestival.org