Kumbakonam is our next stop which only 3 hours by bus from Chidambaram. The trip is very pleasant passing by villages, luscious huge green trees, fields of rice, women pumping water at the wells, bullock pulled carts… It looks like a very traditional region of Tamil Nadu.
I fall in love with Kumbakonam as soon as we arrive… It is just the right size town (about 140,000 inhabitants) with about 18 temples to visit! We settle in at Hotel Raya’s in the center of town near the Mahamaham Water tank. Everything can be done by foot, of course not forgetting to keep an eye open for the speeding buses…
The 3 days we spend here i get up early and start the day by having my morning chai on the street corner. I love this time of day between 6h30 and 8h00 when it is still cool and quiet. You can walk around calmly looking at the place waking up and discover the wonderful kolams or rangoli the women draw in the front entrance of their homes.
It is my second time in the south of India and i have seen kolams and rangolis before, but i did realize until now the beauty and artistic talent behind each one… Every day before sunrise the women of the house wash the front entrance of their homes and draw a kolam or rangoli on the still damp floor with chalk or ground rice.
A rangoli, as seen in the picture, is symbolic to the whole country. They can include patterns with lines, dots, squares, circles, triangles, swastikas, lotus, trident, fish, conch shells, footprints.. etc. They are drawn and filled in with by different colored chalks (originally derived from natural dyes).
A kolam is a sort of painted prayer with lines and dots joining together, usually with white chalk. An example of a kolam is seen by the entrance of the previous pictures of the Kaleshetra Foundation. The drawings are an invitation of all beings (big and small) into their homes. Each drawing is different, depending on the ability of the artist. The drawings are meant to not only be pretty, bring prosperity to the household, but are also benefic for the health of the artist. It is said that it helps the artists digestive and reproductive system!
I fall in love with Kumbakonam as soon as we arrive… It is just the right size town (about 140,000 inhabitants) with about 18 temples to visit! We settle in at Hotel Raya’s in the center of town near the Mahamaham Water tank. Everything can be done by foot, of course not forgetting to keep an eye open for the speeding buses…
The 3 days we spend here i get up early and start the day by having my morning chai on the street corner. I love this time of day between 6h30 and 8h00 when it is still cool and quiet. You can walk around calmly looking at the place waking up and discover the wonderful kolams or rangoli the women draw in the front entrance of their homes.
It is my second time in the south of India and i have seen kolams and rangolis before, but i did realize until now the beauty and artistic talent behind each one… Every day before sunrise the women of the house wash the front entrance of their homes and draw a kolam or rangoli on the still damp floor with chalk or ground rice.
A rangoli, as seen in the picture, is symbolic to the whole country. They can include patterns with lines, dots, squares, circles, triangles, swastikas, lotus, trident, fish, conch shells, footprints.. etc. They are drawn and filled in with by different colored chalks (originally derived from natural dyes).
A kolam is a sort of painted prayer with lines and dots joining together, usually with white chalk. An example of a kolam is seen by the entrance of the previous pictures of the Kaleshetra Foundation. The drawings are an invitation of all beings (big and small) into their homes. Each drawing is different, depending on the ability of the artist. The drawings are meant to not only be pretty, bring prosperity to the household, but are also benefic for the health of the artist. It is said that it helps the artists digestive and reproductive system!
