Kolam Designs
Step-by-step pulli kolams on dot grids, from first attempts to festival mornings. A new kolam of the day, every day.
Kolam of the day
Drawn fresh every morning
A new design appears here every morning, the way a fresh kolam appears at a Chennai threshold at dawn. Learn it, draw it at your own doorstep, and come back tomorrow for the next one.
Every dawn, thresholds across Chennai are washed and drawn afresh with kolams: geometric patterns in rice flour that welcome the day and everyone who crosses the doorstep. The designs below are our growing library, each drawn on the classic 5 × 5 pulli grid and broken down into steps you can follow at your own front door.
Start with a beginner design like Vattam if you are new to kolam making, keep the fuller Velli kolam for Fridays, and bookmark this page: the kolam of the day changes every morning.
Naalu Mulai
Four corners · 5 × 5 pulli
Kambi Veedu
The line house · 5 × 5 pulli
Vattam
The ring · 5 × 5 pulli
Iru Vattam
Double ring · 5 × 5 pulli
Poo Kolam
Flower kolam · 5 × 5 pulli
Velli Kolam
Friday kolam · 5 × 5 pulli
Nel Kolam
Harvest diamonds · 5 × 5 pulli
Aadi Kolam
Season special · 5 × 5 pulli
About the kolam tradition
Common questions about Chennai's daily threshold art.
What is a kolam?
A kolam is a decorative pattern drawn at the threshold of homes across Tamil Nadu, traditionally with rice flour, at dawn each day. It welcomes visitors and is considered auspicious. The design is swept away and drawn fresh the next morning, which makes the kolam a daily ritual rather than a permanent decoration.
What is a pulli kolam?
A pulli kolam starts with a grid of dots (pulli in Tamil). The dots are placed first, then lines are drawn around, through, or connecting them to form the pattern. Grids are described by their dot counts, such as 5x5. All the designs on this page use a 5x5 pulli grid.
When are kolams drawn?
Kolams are drawn every morning, with larger and more elaborate designs on Fridays and festival days. The grandest season is the Tamil month of Margazhi (mid-December to mid-January), when households compete with large, colourful kolams each dawn, culminating in Pongal.
What is kolam powder made of?
Traditionally rice flour, which also feeds ants and small birds, an act of daily charity built into the ritual. Today many households use white stone powder for sharper lines, adding kaavi (red ochre) borders and colour powders on special occasions.
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