The Stories Behind the Kolam
The legends of how the first Kolam came to be are ancient. One popular legend tells of the devestation of a king when the son of his high priest died. The king goes to Lord Brahma and asks him for help. Lord Brahma tells the king to draw the image of the boy onto a wall so that he could breathe life into it.
Another legend tells of a god that once used the juices of a mango to paint the figure of a woman. Apparently, the painting was so beautiful that it made all the heavenly maidens jealous of it.
Kolam Made of Flower Petals
In Tamil Nadu there is a prevalent myth of Andaal. Andaal was a woman who defied the expected path of women in her culture and didn’t marry. She worshipped the God Thirumal and eventually ended up marrying him. In honor of Andaal, unmarried women now get up before dawn to make the Kolam to welcome Thirumal. In fact, although now created by both men and women, the Kolam is traditionally considered to be a woman’s art.