Pookalam

What it is

A pookalam is a flat, round design made only of flowers and leaves. Petals are laid in rings and segments of solid colour: white, yellow, orange, red, purple and green. Traditional designs are simple circles, one ring added for each day of the festival. Competition pieces made by schools, offices and clubs can be several metres wide, with images of Kathakali dancers, boats or lamps. Elsewhere in India similar floor patterns, called rangoli or kolam, are drawn in powder and sometimes filled with petals for festivals.

What it means

Onam recalls Mahabali, a legendary king whose reign is remembered as a time when everyone was equal and content. The story says he was sent to the underworld by Vamana, an incarnation of Vishnu, but was allowed to visit his people once a year. The pookalam at the door is laid to welcome him. On Thiruvonam some families place small clay pyramids, called Thrikkakara Appan, at the centre of the design.

How it is made

The ground is cleaned and, by old custom, smeared with cow dung to give a smooth dark surface. The outline is drawn in chalk, working out from the centre. Flowers are plucked apart and sorted by colour into bowls. Makers kneel around the circle and fill each section with a thick, even layer of petals, pressing lightly so the wind does not lift them. Fine lines are made with chopped leaves. Children traditionally gathered the flowers each dawn. Today most are bought, and many come by truck from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Which flowers are used

The small white thumba is the flower most closely tied to Onam. Marigolds give orange and yellow, globe amaranth gives purple, and ixora and hibiscus give red. Chrysanthemums, blue butterfly pea and shredded leaves fill out the palette. By custom only flowers and leaves are used. Coloured powder, salt and dyed coconut, which appear in some modern competition pieces, are not part of the older practice. Flower prices in Kerala rise sharply in the festival week.

How to take part

1. Visit Kerala in the ten days before Thiruvonam. The date changes each year with the Malayalam calendar.
2. Look at doorsteps in the early morning, when the day's pookalam is fresh.
3. See the Athachamayam procession at Thrippunithura, near Kochi, which opens the festival.
4. Try one at home: chalk a circle, divide it into rings, and fill each with petals of one colour.

Good manners

• Walk around a pookalam, never across it.
• Take off your shoes if you are invited to help lay one.

The flowers

ThumbaiA small white-flowered weed of Indian fields, used in food and medicineAztec marigoldThe golden-yellow flower of Mexican altars and Day of the Dead offeringsGlobe amaranthA round-flowered annual grown for its lasting, colorful bloomsScarlet jungleflameA dense evergreen shrub with year-round scarlet flower clustersChrysanthemumAutumn-blooming flower with thousands of varieties, cherished in East Asia and beyondButterfly peaA climbing herb with vivid blue flowers used for dye, tea and soil improvement

Also part of it, and being written: Pookkalam, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.

Sources and further reading

• Pookkalam on Wikipedia