Topic started by pradheep Chhalliyil (@ ns1.genetic-id.com) on Thu Feb 14 10:55:11 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

I have been impressed from my childhood about kolams. All cultures talk about feeding other life forms but only in our tradition we even feed the small oraganisms like microbes, ants and insects , first in the morning by drawing kolam with rice flour. I also felt that it gives women a meditative mood in the morning by concentrating on the drawing.


I ave now come across an article about kolam in American Scientist. It explains "A tradition of figure-drawing in southern India expresses mathematical ideas and has attracted the attention of computer science".

http://www.sigmaxi.org/amsci/amsci/articles/02articles/ascher.html

Responses:

• From: Ramadas (@ globalb9.citicorp.com) on: Fri Feb 15 20:13:45
  
  Stranger thing I have observed:
  I know many old ladies in Chennai, who do not even
  know how to write their own names in Tamil, so illiterate, but you must see the complex kolams which they draw (especially during the month of Maargazhi Dec 15th to Jan 15th), you will be bewildered, copying the designs into a note-book would be so tough... especially the single-kambi kolam (the line starts at one end and loops back to the same place covering a 3 meter square area with intricate closely packed designs).
  
  

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