Being in a diverse nation, I have always experienced her being a part of everyone's life. She is beautiful, elegant, authentic, graceful, and represents tradition of India. She is termed to be auspicious for every occasion and festival celebrated in India.
Any guess?
She is the rangoli.
Rangoli is derived from two terms,' rang €which means color and €holi €which means celebration. Thus, rangoli means celebration of colors. Rangoli is a traditional Indian art form often associated with all festive occasions. A Rangoli is a brightly colored design created using different materials such as colored powders, seeds and grains, sand, rice, flower petals, pencils, pens and paint. Rangoli hails from the time of the mythological story of Ramayana, where the citizens welcome Rama back from his fourteen-year exile in the forest by painting Rangoli designs outside their homes. Families continue to honor this tradition even today. Rangoli is an ancient ephemeral art form practiced throughout India.
Rangoli is an expression of the creative self, often viewed as a form of self-portraiture. Designs are composed of geometric and curvilinear patterns, usually derived from nature. After the Rangoli is complete, the image is simply allowed to blow away with the wind - serving as a metaphor for the impermanence of life. Rangoli designs are both decorative and symbolize a warm welcome and good luck. Rangoli art is an adornment or decoration that has different names in different provinces of India; for example, purna in Uttar Pradesh, mmandn in Rajasthan, aripan in Bihar, alpana in Bengal and Maharashtra, rangavallie in Karnataka, Kollam in Tamil Nadu, muggu in Andhra Pradesh, alikhthap in Kumaon, kolam in Kerala, and saathiya in Gujarat. Not just in names, the designs also vary as per the region. In Maharashtra, rangoli are drawn on the doors of homes so that evil forces attempting to enter are repelled.
Initially rangoli was hand drawn using rice flour and natural colors that is color made from flowers, vegetables, barks of trees, leaves, etc. Hence rangoli was said to be derived from nature. Then there came the era of rangoli powders or colors which were manufactured using various elements with chemicals in them and stickers which are still in use.
Now there is upcoming trend of modern rangolis which are made using beads, cut out mirrors, and other decorative elements on OHP sheets. OHP sheets are transparent plastic sheets where in small beads and mirrors are pasted in different patterns and forms. This OHP rangolis are an imminent style in metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities.
Today, we don't have much time to sit and think about which design to be drawn, also now days working women prefer something readymade so that they don't have to spend much time on it. Many women don't know how to make rangolis. OHP rangolis are way much easier to use and also it fits in the hustle bustle of life. These types of rangolis come in various elegant designs and colors. As these rangolis are cut into various shapes and we can arrange them according to us. It can be easily transported from one place to other.
OHP rangolis are now becoming a trend, as in this busy life we don't have time and patience to draw one, thus we are now shifting towards these modern rangolis. These modern rangolis do represent the traditional ones but in a very creative and unique way.