Dawn Kolam on a Mylapore Street

The Street Wakes Up

Before sunrise, the Mada streets around the Kapaleeshwarar temple come alive with a quiet ritual: thresholds are swept, sprinkled with water and decorated with a kolam drawn in white powder. Kamala Venkatraman has drawn one at her own doorstep every morning for more than fifty years, and she meets you at 6 AM on the street outside her house, just as the temple bells begin.

Dots, Lines and Rules

Kamala explains the grammar of kolam. A pulli kolam begins with a grid of dots; lines either join the dots or loop around them. In a sikku kolam, a single unbroken line weaves around every dot and returns to where it began — a puzzle that women have solved by eye for generations. She also explains why rice flour is the traditional medium: the kolam is a morning offering that feeds ants and birds. Many households today use white stone powder as well, and you will try both.

Your First Sikku Kolam

You will practise on a slate first, learning to let the powder fall in a steady line between thumb and forefinger. Then you move to the street, lay a dot grid and draw a small kolam of your own beside Kamala's. By the end, most guests can draw a simple sikku kolam and understand how a larger design is planned.

Coffee and Practice

The session ends with filter coffee on Kamala's thinnai as she talks about Margazhi, the month from mid-December to mid-January when Mylapore's streets fill with large, elaborate kolams. You leave with a practice booklet, a small packet of kolam powder and photographs of the kolam you drew on the street.