Rangoli competition tips

A rangoli competition is not won by the hardest design. It is usually won by the team that finishes a clean, well-planned design a few minutes before time. Judges walk past twenty entries, and what stays with them is a clear idea, strong colour and neat edges. This guide is for students, office teams and housing society neighbours who have a date, a theme and a square of floor.

Read the rules first

Every competition sets its own rules, and entries are marked down for breaking them. Find out, in writing if you can:

the size of the space given to each team;
the time allowed, and whether marking the outline in chalk counts within it;
the materials allowed: powder only, flowers only, or anything. Some contests forbid stencils, sieves or ready-made stickers;
the theme, if any, and whether a title or a message card may be placed beside the entry;
the number of people in a team;
whether diyas, lamps or props may be added.

If a rule is unclear, ask the organiser before the day, not the judge on the day.

How entries are usually judged

Marking schemes differ, but most judges look at the same handful of things:

Neatness: clean edges, even filling, no smudges, no powder scattered outside the design.
Colour: a pleasing, strong combination that can be read from a distance.
Design and symmetry: balanced, with parts of equal size.
Theme: does the design clearly show it?
Originality: an idea of your own, not a copy of a famous picture.
Completion: finished within the time, with the area around it left clean.

Notice that four of the six are about care, not difficulty.

Choosing the design

Pick a design you can finish in two-thirds of the time. The last third is for outlines, corrections and cleaning up.
Fit the space. Leave a clear margin of floor all round. A design that touches the boundary looks cramped.
One clear centre. A single strong motif with rings or a border around it reads better than many small pictures.
Limit the colours to five or six, plus white. See colour combinations.
For a theme, use one symbol that everybody recognises and build the pattern around it: a diya for Diwali, a tree or a drop of water for the environment, a book for education, joined hands for unity. A design that needs a paragraph of explanation has not worked.

Geometric designs such as the grand mandala, the star and diamonds or the garba wheel are strong bases. Change the centre to suit your theme and choose your own colours, so that the design is your own.

Practise the whole thing once

Draw the design on paper at small size and colour it with pencils. Try two colour plans.
Then make it once at full size, against the clock, on any floor. This is the step most teams skip, and it is the one that shows how long each part really takes.
Write down the time each layer took and how much of each colour was used.
Photograph the practice piece. It is your reference on the day.

A plan for the team

One person draws the outline. Two hands on the chalk give two styles.
One colour per person, or one part of the design per person, decided in advance.
One person keeps time and calls out the halfway point and the last fifteen minutes.
Work from the centre outward, and from the far side towards your own, so that nobody leans over finished work.
Only one person does the white outlines at the end, so that the line is the same thickness everywhere.

What to carry

All colours, with extra white and extra of your main colour, in closed boxes or bottles with labels.
Chalk, string, a ruler or a straight stick, and a compass made from string and a pin if circles are needed.
Tea strainers, spoons, paper cones or squeeze bottles, if the rules allow them.
A dry paintbrush and a stiff card for tidying edges.
A damp cloth and a dry cloth, a small broom and dustpan, and old newspaper.
The paper sketch and the practice photograph.
Knee pads or a folded towel, and drinking water.

On the day: a timetable for a one-hour contest

0 to 10 minutes: wipe the floor, find the centre, chalk the full outline.
10 to 40 minutes: fill colours, largest areas first.
40 to 50 minutes: small details and white outlines.
50 to 57 minutes: tidy edges with the brush and card, sweep stray powder, wipe the floor around the design.
Last 3 minutes: step back, look from the judge's side, fix the one thing that stands out. Then stop.

Mistakes that cost marks

Starting with powder and no outline. Symmetry is lost in the first five minutes.
Too much detail. Fine work at the centre that nobody can see from standing height.
Pale colours on a pale floor. Ask what the floor is like, and take a dark base colour if it is light.
Kneeling or stepping on finished parts.
Running out of a colour. The practice run tells you the amounts.
Leaving a mess. Bags, bottles and powder around the entry pull the eye away from it.

If something goes wrong

Powder spilt on a finished part can be lifted with a spoon and the patch refilled. A smudged edge can be hidden under a white outline. A layer that will clearly not be finished can be simplified: fill it as a plain ring of one colour, which looks deliberate, instead of leaving half of it patterned. Calm repairs are part of the skill.

For teachers and organisers

State the size, time, materials and theme in the notice. Give every team the same kind of floor and light, keep water and dustbins nearby, and leave walking space between entries so that nobody steps on a neighbour's work. For younger classes, flower petals or coloured rice are easier and safer than fine powder, and the easy designs can be finished in a school period.