RangoliRangoli for every festival: a year-round guide
Every festival has its own signs and colours, and a rangoli that uses them says "we were expecting you" better than a general pattern. This guide goes through the year, festival by festival, with the motifs that suit each one and links to designs on this site that you can follow step by step. Festival dates move from year to year, so check a calendar for the exact day.
January: Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Republic Day
Sankranti and Pongal honour the sun and the harvest. Draw the sunburst in the courtyard, or a white dot kolam, and read more on the Pongal and Sankranti page. Motifs that fit: the sun, the pot of boiling rice, sugarcane, kites. For Lohri, warm reds and oranges around a small drawn bonfire suit the evening.
Republic Day on 26 January calls for the national colours. The tricolour flower uses saffron, white and green as a theme without drawing the flag itself on the ground.
February and March: Vasant Panchami, Maha Shivaratri, Holi
Vasant Panchami is the yellow festival. Any design drawn in yellows and white works: try the eight petal flower in two yellows, or the lotus, which is linked with Goddess Saraswati as well as with Lakshmi.
Holi needs no rule except colour. The Holi colour wheel uses eight colours in eight slices, and the rainbow daisy is one for the children. Make them where wind will not carry the gulal.
March and April: Gudi Padwa, Ugadi, Baisakhi, Ram Navami, Eid
The new year festivals of spring, Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Baisakhi, are days for a large, fresh design at the entrance. In Maharashtra, big round rangoli fill the streets on Gudi Padwa morning. The grand mandala suits a group, and the star and diamonds suits one person with an hour.
For Eid, the crescent and star in white and gold on deep teal is calm and festive. The date of Eid moves through the year with the lunar calendar.
August: Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Onam
Independence Day on 15 August: the tricolour flower again, at the school gate or the society entrance.
Raksha Bandhan: the rakhi design, a medallion on a thread, drawn where the rakhi will be tied.
Janmashtami: the peacock feathers, for the feather in Krishna's crown. Tiny footprints of the child Krishna leading to the puja place are a loved tradition. They are drawn like the Lakshmi footprints, only smaller.
Onam, in August or September, is the festival of the flower carpet. See Onam pookalam, and start with the marigold rings.
September and October: Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri, Durga Puja, Dussehra
For Ganesh Chaturthi, draw the rangoli in front of the place where the idol sits. Reds, yellows and greens suit the day, and a round design such as the lotus or the eight petal flower, with a border, makes a good seat for the eye before the mandap.
Navratri lasts nine nights, and many households draw a fresh rangoli each day. The garba wheel belongs in the middle of the dancing ground. In Bengal, Durga Puja is the season of alpana, painted in white rice paste. The names and styles are on rangoli names across India.
October and November: Karwa Chauth, Dhanteras, Diwali, Bhai Dooj
Diwali is the great rangoli festival. Draw Lakshmi footprints at the door from Dhanteras onward, a circle of diyas or a lotus for Lakshmi Puja, and the grand mandala if the family will make one together. The Diwali page has the plan for the five days.
December: Christmas and New Year
Rangoli is now made for Christmas and New Year in many homes, schools and offices. A star is the natural motif: the star and diamonds in red, green and white for Christmas, or in gold and blue for New Year's Eve.
Weddings, pujas and housewarmings
Family occasions follow the same idea as festivals. At a wedding, a large design at the entrance and small ones where rituals take place. For a griha pravesh, a design at the new threshold, and footprints leading in. For a satyanarayan katha or a havan at home, a small design in front of the puja place. In narrow spaces use the doorstep half circle or the corner fan.
Every day
In much of south and west India the threshold is decorated every morning, festival or not. The white line flower and the dot designs are made for that: a few minutes, one material and a doorstep that looks cared for.
Choosing by time, not by festival
- Ten to twenty minutes: any design on the easy page.
- About forty-five minutes: the lotus, diya circle, garba wheel or peacock feathers.
- Two hours and two or three people: the grand mandala.
- No floor space at all: see rangoli for flats and small spaces.
- Dot rangoliThree designs made by joining a grid of dots, step by step.
- Border designsFive strips to frame a rangoli or run along a wall.
- Easy rangoliDesigns for beginners and children, with a practice plan.
- Diwali rangoliLotus, diyas and Lakshmi footprints for the festival of lights.
- Pongal and SankrantiSun designs and kolam for the harvest festivals.
- Onam pookalamFlower carpets: designs, flowers and how to lay them.
- How to make rangoliFrom an empty floor to a finished design, step by step.
- Colours and materialsPowders, flowers, grains and home-made colours.
- Names across IndiaKolam, muggu, alpana, mandana and more.
- Competition tipsPlan, practise and finish on time at a school or society contest.
- Flower rangoliPetal rangoli for any occasion: flowers, quantities and laying.
- Colour combinationsWhich colours to put together, on light and dark floors.
- Flats and small spacesCorridors, landings, trays and tables: rangoli without a courtyard.
- Problems and fixesWind, smudges, uneven shapes, stains and how to deal with them.