Tradition of Rangoli
Rangoli is a traditional art of decorating the floors, walls and the entrance of the house. People also used Rangoli to decorate the place of worship and the place where they used to take meal along with their guests. Rangoli is art of Maharashtra but now a day's it's been used or created in almost every part of India on festivals as well as on normal days. It is created with colorful rice powder, kumkum (vermillion) and turmeric powder (Haldi). It is the creativity of creater. Mostly people used to create religious and ritual designs. The religious symbols like Swastik and Om are used profusely. Besides this the shapes of triangles, circle and stars are also used. Creation of Rangoli doesn't need any formal training. This is what we get in legacy from our elders. People create multi coloured and multi pattern Rangolis and also draw the images of deity in Rangoli Pattern. People also use the petals of different flowers to create Rangoli.
On Diwali Godess Lakshmi's pooja is of great importance. So people create Rangoli at the door stem to welcome her in their house and also to please her. At pooja place (the place where people worship godess ) a circular Rangoli is created in the middle of which resides the image of Godess. Around the image, the petals of Lotus flower are drawn as Godess Laksmi loves this flower very much. In some Rangolis the shapes representing the different planets are created as these planets are believed to affect the one's life very much.
On Diwali a special Rangoli is created in which two interfaced triangles are created which represents the Godess Saraswati the Godess of education ( not only academic but any type education like music, art etc.) and triangles are encircled with the petals of lotus flower which is further encircled. In the last or outermost circle, foot prints of Godess Lakshmi are created at all four corners. Some people also draw the foot prints of Godess Lakshmi at the entrance floor and some created the same at the two sides if the entrance gate.
This Rangoli designing is vary from state to state. In some states different geometrical shapes forming the lotus are created. Some people create Eight petal lotus shapes, some create twelve petals shapes and some create twenty four petal shapes of lotus. All depends on what they have learnt from their elders. In Maharashtra the shape of shankha kamal is created in which eight petals of lotus are created and the rangoli is called salver. In Gujarat , there are more than one thousand shapes of lotus used in Rangoli Designing. In some Rangoli patterns the shapes of some animals are also used depending on the rituals of their religious believes. In all the, the purpose of creating Diwali Rangolis is to please Godess Lakshmi and to bring prosperity in the house. These Rangoli Designs are considered very auspicious for the house and the family. That's how it is proved every ritual has meaning and effects in our lives and follow them and make them the Tradition.
