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Hello Friends!

It has been a long time since I posted. I was busy with many personal matters and also my health was on and off. 

Ok, from tomorrow we are starting  our Dhanurmasam-and the month long Rangoli till Sankranti. I will be posting Rangolis. Hope you like them.

Here is my first one for the season:

Flowers and berries

16 dots- 2 rows in the center, 14, 12 and so on straight dots till 2 dots. You can easily follow the rest.

Sorry for the ugly watermark. But so many of my creations have been stolen by others who put them on their sites and blogs even claiming the copyright. 

Well look out for more Rangoli designs......

NOTE: These designs are my own original creations, which I create by spending much time and after hard work. So please don't post these photos or designs (even if you draw these by your own hand) on your site or blog . Please link back to my blog. I hope you understand this and respect my request. Thank You.

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Here is Rangoli for Bhogi

21 dots 3 times to 3 dots - straight dots

Try this

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Welcome to the Rangoli Fest

Dhanurmaasam has started from today. So, we South Indians celebrate this month till Sankranti or Pongal as Rangoli Festival. I am sorry friends, I am posting so late. Of late I am not feeling well. 

But from today I will post Rangolis for this entire one month. Here is the first one.

It is 15 to 1 straight dots. Umbrellas and hats. 

Keep an eye on my blog for more.....

Please do spread around the word about my Rangolis and if possible link back to my blog so that many people can use this. Please don't post my Rangolis on your site with out my permission. Most of these are my own Rangolis. 

Hope you respect my request.

While drawing the Rangolis, please chant the name of the Lord. Any name or mantra will do like Govinda, Narayana, Vasudeva, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaayaa, Om Namo Naaraayana etc..... 

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Ratham Or Chariot Rangoli

Here is a chariot or Ratham Rangloi. You can note the dots from the design above. I have drawn it as Navaratna Ratham-the chariot studded with nine types of gems. In the center, I have drawn a chair for the Lord to sit and a lamp too. 

Sorry for posting so late. I was so busy today. 

This is drawn on Kanuma(third day of festival) and also on Mukkanuma(fourth day). On Kanuma(3rd day), the chariot is drawn entering into the house. It has come to pick up the Lord who has visited us during the festival. On the 4th day, the chariot is drawn going out of the house. That is the Lord is seated in the chariot and is leaving us and going off to his place. A string (a line) is drawn from the chariot on to the road as far as possible, as if it being pulled away. Usually it is linked with the chariot drawn by the neighbor. This way chariots of one is linked to the other. 

Hope you like it. Watch out I may post some more tomorrow. 

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Pongal-Sankranti Special 

21- 7 times(in the center) to 7 straight dots. 

Kites, Pongali Pots, sugarcane, Gobbilu (pyramid shaped mounds made of cow dung- decorated with pumpkin flowers, placed in the center of Rangolis), red jujube berries(read more in the link below) and colourful rangolis reflect the festive spirit. Hence I have used all those elements in my Rangoli. 

http://spiceomylife.blogspot.in/2011/11/jujube-crispies.html

Hope you like this Rangoli....watch out for more...

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Pongal-Sankranti Rangoli

This is 23 to 1 straight dots. Pongal(rice dish) pots and kites with chain rangoli reflect the festive spirit of Sankranti or Pongal. Watch out for more....

Wishing you all A very Happy, Prosperous and joyous Makar Sankranti/Pongal/Lohri/Uttarayan/Maghi and known by many names in different parts of India. It is also celebrated by Srilanka, Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia and many other countries.

Tomorrow as Sun enters Capricorn, the period of six months till the Sun enters, Cancer-the Sun moves towards North is considered very auspicious for Hindus. Read more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttarayana

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Friends, sorry I could not post these past two three days as I was very busy. Here is one more Rangoli for you:

 21 to 1 straight dots.

Here is a closer look at one section so that you can easily draw it.

Sankranti or Pongal and the one month(Dhanurmaasam) before it is basically a festival related to agriculture. This is a celebration of Harvest- Harvest festival. Sun entering in the Zodiac sign of Sagittarius is thanked this whole month, for, with out his heat and light this harvest would not be possible. So our South Indian villages basically dependent on agriculture celebrate this month long thanks giving to Sun, irrespective of cast or status with great devotion. 

The villages and small towns are where our culture and traditions are zealously followed even today. If one takes a walk early in the morning as the Sun is rising, one can see the front yards of the houses decorated with various Rangolis. The girls and women of the houses draw these Rangolis with great care showcasing their skills and creativity. 

As a child, I along with my cousins would take a walk(braving the chill) in our locality to note any designs we did not know or were new to us. We would note these designs mentally along with the dots, come back and try it on paper and file it for future use. 

All of our family would gather at our Granny's place every year to celebrate this festival.  We would always look forward to this festival as it was lot of fun meeting all of our kith and kin  and friends. New clothes, sweets and snacks, playing with friends, visiting each others houses, bonfires, entire family going to movies -well I miss all that now. 

So remembering those times, I have chosen huts, trees and kites for this Rangoli. No matter where we are our roots are tied to our villages or towns where we were born and brought up. 

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Cranes N Fishes Rangoli

 Here is one more Rangoli.

This is 18 dots 6 times in the center to 6 dots-Straight dots. The theme is Cranes and Fishes.

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Friends, the auspicious month of Dhanurmaasam (Sun entering the Zodiac sign of Sagittarius) starts from tomorrow. It is a month long Rangoli festival. We clean our front yards, sprinkle cow dung mixed water and draw beautiful Rangolis-with or with out dots, using lines or free hand- before Sun rise. 

This is the time to show our creative skills. Every Indian women-especially South Indian women take this as a challenge, drawing, huge designs, very intricate, very creative. They include traditional as well as modern ones. 

With the winter at its peak this year(so early), it is so difficult to draw the Rangolis. Our fingers go numb after some time and drawing becomes difficult. To be in bending position for long time to draw these designs, our legs and back become stiff. But still we do this every year with out fail. For, it is a way of praying to the Lord for His Grace.

So here we go with the first Rangoli of the season:

The dots for this are:

21, 19, 17, 15, 15, 11, 9, 9, 5, 3, 1, straight dots.

I have chosen the theme of flowers and butterflies, as my garden is full of beautiful flowers and it is a delight to watch many butterflies visiting them. They let the sun rise and after 2-3 hours, sun themselves to get rid of the dew on their wings and then they go on their business. 

This is an easy Rangoli- warming up for much more to come. I will try to post at least one design every day. So watch out  for many beautiful ones to come.....

Your comments and suggestions do motivate me...so please take a little time to drop in your comments/suggestions....

Oh Don't forget to chant Lords name while drawing these Rangolis...it can be Sri Ram, Hare Rama, Hare Rama....or Govinda or anything which you like....

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Chariot or Ratham Rangoli

This was drawn with the help of dots. You can see the dots in black. Even other wise this can be drawn without dots to.. Try it out and let me know. This can be expanded to get a bigger Rangoli.

I enjoyed creating and bringing these Rangolis to you this season. It was really a challenge to create so many new ones. I stuck to medium to small sized ones. Also I kept them simple and easy. One regret I have is that I could not cover many subjects in my Rangolis like, animals, birds etc. Also I could not bring you the complicated Chain Rangolis or bigger Rangolis.  It takes a lot of time for me to create, develop a Rangoli and draw it neatly, then colour and post.  Many a time even if a small thing goes wrong, I have to abandon it and draw again. 

My attempt this year was to post consistently and continuously at least one Rangoli a day. Well I enjoyed it all. Hope you have enjoyed my creations.

Now I am going to take a short break from these Rangolis. I need to concentrate on so many other things, which i have been neglecting of late.  

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Chariot or Ratham Rangoli

Another Ratham(chariot) Rangoli that can be drawn on Kanumu, Mukkanumu or the Ratha Saptami festival.

Place the dots as shown and draw the Rangoli. This can also be expanded to get a bigger Rangoli. The flags are extra.

This is easiest one of the chain or Mellicka Rangoli. I din't want to attempt a too complicated Rangoli. But in future I will post some.  Hope you like this one.

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Ratham or Chariot Rangoli

Ratham means chariot. This Rangoli is drawn on the day after Makara Sankranti konwn as Kanumu. This chariot is drawn inwards(entering the house) on Kanumu. on the next day known as Mukkanumu, the chariot is drawn leaving the house. Those I have posted previously are here:

http://summersofindia.blogspot.in/search/label/Ratham%20muggu

Here is one more Rangoli:

Four Chariots. 21 to 1 straight dots....The flag is drawn extra(i.e., no dots )

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Makar Sankranti-Pongal Special Rangoli

This is 25 to 1 straight dots.

Celebrating the festival of Makar Sankranti...In the state of Andhra Pradesh, this festival is  a harvest festival but involves, spiritual and religious aspects too. Sun's transit to the Zodiac Sign of Makara (Capricorn) starts the auspicious period of 6 months known as Uttarayana. It is a four day festival. Thanks giving to Sun for the bountiful crop, praying to Lord Vishnu during the month starting from Sun entering DhanurRashi(Sagittarius) ends on Makara Sankranti day. Goddess Gauri is also worshipped by young maidens asking for a good husband and a happy married life during this whole month. I will write about that separately.

This Rangoli, consists of Pongali pots. Pongali-sweet one is rice pudding, cooked with milk and jaggery, where as the other one (spicy) is rice cooked along with husked, split green gram and vegetables, green peppers and black pepper. These are offered to Gods as thanks giving. Sugar canes-harvested and brought to home. Kites and Rangolis. The green ones with orange flowers are Gobbillu-made of cow dung and prayed too. 

I wanted my Rangoli to reflect the spirit of Sankranti as celebrated by us....Hope it does...

Wishing you all Happy and Prosperous Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri.....

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Pongali Pots

21 to 1 straight dots.

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Water Lilies and Butterflies

25 dots, 7 rows, in the center on both sides, 23, 21, 19...till 7 dots.

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Water Lilies and Kites

21 to 1 straight dots. Celebrating the spirit of Makar Sankranti/Pongal festival....Watch out for more Rangolis ....

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Kites

This is the time for flying kites, as winds are favourable. Kites, festivals, competitions are held. We get to see many shapes and sizes of kites. So here is Kites Rangoli specially for you all on the occasion of Makar Sankranti or Pongal:

21 dots- 7 rows in the center to 7 dots- straight dots.

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The Flower Canopy

This is 27 to 1 straight dots.

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21 to 1 straight dots. Very easy and simple Rangoli.

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Kites Rangoli

Flying kites during this month and especially during the Makar Sankranti festival is a tradition observed in most of the North India. Now a days kite festivals are conducted in open places as people don't find much space or time to fly these kites in cities or towns. So here is Kites Rangoli celebrating the spirit of Sankranti.

21 dots 7 rows in the center then, 19, 17...till 7dots.

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