Re: Rangoli

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Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on September 18, 2001 at 00:42:28:

In reply to: Re: Rangoli posted by Natalie on September 17, 2001 at 17:15:55:

: Your Rangoli is beautiful! What a wonderful thing to do.
: What is the Tumeric for? Will the animals eat it too?
: Are there any other spices traditionally used?

Many other colored spices are used, as well as flower petals in
Kerala. Rangoli take many forms, differing across the Indian
subcontinent. There are books of patterns for them published by
Navneet....

Contemporary rangoli (going by other names.....remember there are 17
official languages in India) are now often done in colored chalk ....
by hired guyz for mundania such as shop openings. You can buy stick-on
rangoli for quik-n-e-z holiday decorations. There are competitions
with chalk sidewalk drawings of heroic moments of the Mahabarata, etc
... But these are a contemporary development of the tradition. The
rice flour on the ground patterns are very old, very rural, very much
just by women for their own household magic, devotion and joy.

Of the old form of rice flour rangoli .. there's something about
making something beautiful, with great deal of love and very hard
labor KNOWING its going to be easily and inevitably destroyed; it
rolls back the hubris factor by 97%. I like henna for the same
reason. It is glorious for only a brief moment .... then you MUST
release it, as you release the event it celebrates, as you must
release life itself.

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: : Your Rangoli is beautiful! What a wonderful thing to do. : : What is the Tumeric for? Will the animals eat it too? : : Are there any other spices traditionally used? : : : Many other colored spices are used, as well as flower petals in : Kerala. Rangoli take many forms, differing across the Indian : subcontinent. There are books of patterns for them published by : Navneet.... : : Contemporary rangoli (going by other names.....remember there are 17 : official languages in India) are now often done in colored chalk .... : by hired guyz for mundania such as shop openings. You can buy stick-on : rangoli for quik-n-e-z holiday decorations. There are competitions : with chalk sidewalk drawings of heroic moments of the Mahabarata, etc : ... But these are a contemporary development of the tradition. The : rice flour on the ground patterns are very old, very rural, very much : just by women for their own household magic, devotion and joy. : : Of the old form of rice flour rangoli .. there's something about : making something beautiful, with great deal of love and very hard : labor KNOWING its going to be easily and inevitably destroyed; it : rolls back the hubris factor by 97%. I like henna for the same : reason. It is glorious for only a brief moment .... then you MUST : release it, as you release the event it celebrates, as you must : release life itself.
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