In the month of Margazhi, after all the brilliance of lights of Karthika masam, the winter starts truly setting in. The mood becomes a bit more sombre as the New Year and Mandala Deekshas approach. However, the festive cheer continues with all the ladies and children digging into colours and adorning a long stretch of road before Ammagaru's residence.
The colourful floor designs (Kolams/Rangavalli/Muggulu) of South India, are a fast diminishing traditional art form. Most urban households with little front yard space relegate the task to the ubiquitous maid. Here, in Ammagaru's sannidhi, with unique designs and colour combinations for each day, provided by Ammagaru and Smt. Vedavathi, this tradition is given a fresh life.
Ammagaru is a master at designing vast, intricate dotted kolams with intertwining lines (melikalu muggulu) wherein a a single, unbroken, continuous line travels all over the design to finish back at the beginning. A sound background of mathematics is the basis for it! So much for those who think women's art is all feather-brained.
