Singapore · Painting / Ritual Art
Kolam / Rangoli
Kolam is the traditional South Indian Tamil practice of drawing geometric and floral patterns on floors and thresholds using rice flour — practiced daily in Hindu Tamil households as a spiritual protective act and on festival occasions as elaborate ceremonial art. In Singapore, the kolam tradition is maintained by the Tamil community of Little India and surrounding areas. Vijaya Mohan — identified by NHB's Craft X Design program — has practiced kolam for over 55 years and has extended the tradition into large-scale public installations using new materials (glitter, marbles). The traditional kolam uses dry rice flour applied freehand from the fingers in a continuous dot-and-line system (pulli kolam) — the dots laid first as a grid, then the pattern connected around them in a single continuous line without lifting the hand. This continuous-line constraint from a dot-grid is unique in the database.
Risk level: Endangered · Not inscribed by Singapore; Indian kolam on UNESCO list discussions ongoing
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