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Hands on - Rangoli
A rangoli is a colourful pattern, usually made on the floor near the entrance to a house to welcome guests. These fantastic, geometric designs are created using brightly coloured spice powders, rice grains, dried coconut and pulses. They are often made for festivals, such as Diwali, when people visit each other’s homes to exchange greetings and sweets. The designs are usually symmetrical and geometric. They often include shapes taken from nature such as swans, flowers and mango fruits. Can you think of any plant or leaf shapes to use in your design?
Design your pattern
Patterns are firstly drawn out by hand. A traditional rangoli is drawn using one continuous hand movement, leaving no gaps in the design for evil spirits to enter. The coloured seeds and powders are then used to fill the sections of the pattern.Decide on the size and shape of your rangoli and whether you are going to create it on an outside floor (make sure you get permission) or onto a large piece of card.
Draw your design on grid paper to make it symmetrical. Experiment with lots of shapes and patterns. Think of natural shapes to include. How about flowers, fruits or leaves?
Transfer your pattern
When you are happy with your design, mark out the area for your rangoli. Transfer your pattern onto your area. You can do this free-hand, simply by copying. Or you can blow the pattern up using a photocopier.If you have access to an overhead projector, you can project your design onto a large piece of card.
Colour your pattern
There are many different materials you can use to colour your rangoli. Here are some suggestions, but there are plenty more to think of!Natural materials. You can colour rice, lentils, beans, dessicated coconut and many other materials with food dyes to glue onto your rangoli. To make coloured rice, mix uncooked white rice with a few drops of food coloring in a bowl until it is all covered. For every 100g rice, also add ½ tsp white vinegar to set the colour. Spread the rice flat onto a baking sheet covered with foil, and bake it in the oven at 200°C, gas 6 for 45 minutes to dry it.
Other materials might include coloured ground spices like turmeric or cumin or ginger.
Glue one colour at a time onto your rangoli, and shake the excess off onto a large piece of newspaper. Try to think of some other natural materials to use – what about flower petals or grasses?
Colouring pencils, pens and crayons. Use these to fill in blocks of colour or to outline sections. Parts of the rangoli could be outlined with gold or silver pens for a more exotic look.
Coloured chalk. You can use this to draw the outline of the rangoli. You can even use it to make a grid to help you copy your original design. You can also use chalk to colour blocks within your rangoli. Coloured chalk looks particularly good on black paper.
Tissue paper. Cover your design with a thin layer of glue, and fill the different sections with small pieces of scrunched up tissue paper.
Coloured sand or salt. If you can’t find any coloured sand to buy, you can make coloured salt to use on your rangoli. Mix a small amount of food dye with the salt, stirring until all the salt is coloured. Spread the salt thinly on newspaper and leave it to dry.
If you are putting sand or salt onto a card rangoli, fill each section with white glue and sprinkle sand or salt over it as you would with glitter. Use one colour at a time, and shake the excess off onto a large piece of newspaper. Try using glitter in some areas of the design for a sparkly effect.
Activities
