Pookolams 1

Hi Friends,

Here I am posting some beautiful Floral designs or Onam Pookkalam photos from Kerala. These are Pookkalams made for various competitions in Kerala during Onam.

Courtesy : Hindu-blogs.com - Most of the photos are from this website. There are some from other websites also.

 

re: Rangoli / Muggulu / Kolams / Rangavalli : Onam Pookkalam or Floral Designs

Next five pictures..

 

re: Rangoli / Muggulu / Kolams / Rangavalli : Onam Pookkalam or Floral Designs

Another five pictures of Pookkalam

 

re: Rangoli / Muggulu / Kolams / Rangavalli : Onam Pookkalam or Floral Designs

Some more of them...

 

re: Rangoli / Muggulu / Kolams / Rangavalli : Onam Pookkalam or Floral Designs

Last five pictures of floral designs

 

re: Rangoli / Muggulu / Kolams / Rangavalli : Onam Pookkalam or Floral Designs

Hi Honeybee,

Thank you...The pictures I posted were not done by me... I collected them from some other websites and posted it here.

But for making such big pookkalms, it will take atleast 3 hours... Usually people make such elaborate designs for competitions only... For Onam festival, we have to put Pookalams for 10 days from 'Atham' to 'Thiruvonam'... So it is not possible to spend that much hours daily morning for Pookalams...

When I was in Kerala during my school days, I used to put small ones in our house...For that you have to get up in the morning, take bath and then make the designs... And on the 10th day, there are some rituals like keeping 'Ada' between flowers and the guys will come and take them with out our knowledge and many such things...

But now a days, nothing like that exists in most of the places... Everyone will make Pookkalams, but not according to old traditions and rituals... That is what I am seeing in my place.... No one has time for all these things...

Everyone celebrates the 'Thiruvonam' day with grand feasts and good clothes...But all other things are only parts of tourism these days in Kerala.

This is what I personally feel about Onam festival now....

 

re: Rangoli / Muggulu / Kolams / Rangavalli : Onam Pookkalam or Floral Designs

Hi Rajmi,

I can tell u what I know about this floral design making.

The common domestic pookkalams were prepared in the courtyard of the house with material available locally and using flowers grown in the compound. The conventional pookkalams can be made very easy. A circle should be drawn in the middle of the courtyard, its inside was smeared with cowdung and flowers were arranged on it in concentric pattern.

Cowdung was traditionally smeared in places where auspicious events such as pujas were held. In the case of pookkalams, it helped keep the petals of the flowers in place.

For large pookkalams, the design is traced out on the ground with chalk. The dimensions of the designs are marked using string and tape. Then the sections of the design are filled in with variously coloured flower petals: rose, jasmine, hibiscus, tulasi, lotus and others.

I have done the pookkalams in the traditional way only when I was young. I have seen the making of large pookkalams in competitions.

Hope this helps everyone...