The art of making kolams has probably existed for hundreds of years in south India. Most women have an inherent knack of creating beautiful designs with rice flour and rangoli pwders and do it on a regular basis. But it is not often they use kolams to recreate Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings! So when Mangalam Srinivasan, a homemaker from Srirangam, Trichy’s exquisite kolams recreating the famous artist’s paintings were showcased on her (managed by her daughters Bhargavi and Aishwarya), My Mom’s Art Gallery, it instantly drew the attention of art lovers from India and abroad. The Facebook page has garnered more than 70000 likes till date (it is about 3 years old) and its followers are increasing steadily.
Kundavai Nachiyar Tanjore painting style kolam (Img : facebook.com/pg/Mangalam.Art.gallery)
“My mother has been making kolams since she was a young girl and learnt it from her mother. She is really good at it. I have grown up seeing her make some absolutely stunning artworks and kolams, especially during festival days and margazhi season. So we decided about three years ago that it was time to showcase her talent in front of the world. She is a great artist and has never really got her due,” says Bhargavi, elder daughter of Mangalam.
While Mangalam had always had an interest in art, she got an opportunity to further her skills after learning Tanjore painting from the Tamil Nadu government. She used to share her daily class work with her daughters and they realised how much she loved doing them. One day, about three years ago the daughters got the thought of using a social media platform to get Mangalam recognition for her work.
Her kolams range in size from a few inches to 11 feet (a kolam of Lord Shiva) and in theme from gods and goddesses to even a replica of the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa (which adorned Mangalam’s house on the morning of December 6, the day after Jayalalithaa’s death). She takes anything between an hour to even 12 hours to complete the kolams depending on the exquisiteness of the design.
There is not just a Facebook page but even YouTube tutorial videos on creating detailed kolams by Mangalam and interestingly, they are shot by her husband. “My father is so proud of my mother and her achievements. He is the one who creates videos and we upload it on YouTube. My mom now has followers in India and as far as the USA and Europe,” finishes Bhargavi
Andal Rangoli / Kolam made Smt Mangalam Srinivasan. (Img : facebook.com/Mangalam.Art.gallery)
