What happens when a hundred ladies converge on the North Mada Street of Mylapore of an evening, for four days in January? Well, one outcome is that a part of the street is completely cut off to vehicles, because the ladies would have come up with these intricate designs - the traditional kolams. The biggest differences between these and the rangoli that is more popular these days are that kolams are outlines and all in white, while rangoli allows one to fill in the spaces with colours of their choice.
These traditional kolams are part of the Mylapore Festival, which is in its eleventh year in 2014. This is probably the only 'competitive' item of the festival - and in the four days of the celebrations, it attracts the greatest number of visitors. Walking through the narrow space between the kolams, each of which is restricted to a 4x4 space, is itself a performance sport for many of the festival's patrons.
If you want to see more of the designs, head over to the Festival's Facebook page. You will be amazed!
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