ECLIPSE KOLAM 😊
I had shared an anecdote about this kolam in my previous post, the kolam which made my little niece to have a go at drawing kolams.
This kolam was drawn on the annular solar eclipse day, the last one in 2019. I took my own time to draw this kolam in spite of eclipse. Later the little girls basked and endeavored to draw beside this kolam.
Eclipse harkens back to my childhood. In the year 1980 India witnessed a total solar eclipse and we were in Bolarum then. State wide leave was declared and the whole region came to a halt. The streets were deserted by noon and in the late afternoon the incipience of eclipse set in. The daylight dimmed down to yellowish orange, the birds startled in a total choas and the stars came into view. The moon’s umbra overcast the earth turning into a night and later the whole scenario recrudesced. .
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My ratiocinative Appa took me to the terrace for witnessing the event and I was monopolized by the occurrence. We were the only family to be present on the terrace in the whole vicinity. I was educated to see the stages of eclipse through shadows by holding a piece of paper with a small slot where the rays penetrated to create the shape of the sun . It was an enthralling experience to assimilate the entire happenings.
I still experiment shadow technique during an eclipse with a jalli karandi (slotted spatula) 😬
The third and fourth images are a perfect exemplification. 😬
A 31 dots pinwheel design kolam with buds and tendrils.
I was abetted with a bunch of kolams by a friend of mine when requested to share her notebook kolams. I don’t have this design in my album so added in my congeries. Created a digital version too 😊