Most religious and social functions are accompanied by the adornment of the venue by “kOlam” or “rangOli”…but I have not before seen such beautiful use of vibrant colours for a “hOmam” or sacrificial fire worship.

In my community, we tend to use rice flour and some red mud ( like the kOlam I made in this post ) but not other colours as you can see here , so I found this rangOli on the homakundam (pit where the hOma fire is kindled) lovely:

and at a different place in my friends’ new home, where I had gone for the Griha PravEsham (“entry into the new home”), this kOlam/rangOli was lovely, too:

Of course, it was a little the worse for wear with people having passed by, but it was still really striking!

I wonder if the use of these colours is a Kannadiga custom? The words seem to be in Hindi..did the family have some priests from north India?

And meanwhile..the “get a flat stomach” ads are still here, next to the window I am typing on…