Rangoli, also known as kolam or Muggu, is a folk art from India in which patterns are created on the floor in living rooms or courtyards using materials such as colored rice, dry flour, colored sand or flower petals. It is usually made during Diwali, Onam, Pongal and other Indian festivals. They are meant to be sacred welcoming areas for the Hindu deities. The ancient symbols have been passed down through the ages, from each generation to the next, keeping both the art form and the tradition alive. Similar practices are followed in different Indian states: in Tamil Nadu, there is Kolam in Tamil Nadu; Mandana in Rajasthan; Chaookpurna in Chhattisgarh; Alpana in West Bengal; Aripana in Bihar; Chowk pujan in Uttar Pradesh; Muggu in Andhra Pradesh and others.

Policemen look at a wax figure of Rowan Atkinson, dressed as his popular television character Mr. Bean, on display outside a wax figure museum in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, August 24, 2014. (Photo by Alex Lee/Reuters)

This picture taken on September 3, 2014 shows a man taking pictures of floodwater released from the Three Gorges Dam, a gigantic hydropower project on the Yangtze river, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, after heavy downpours in the upper reaches of the dam caused the highest flood peak of the year. Eleven people died and 27 others are missing after torrential rains battered southwest China's Chongqing, a municipality in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Dam, causing thousands of houses to collapse, state media said. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

A sacrificial camel gets a haircut with patterns at the animal market on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan September 22, 2015. Muslims across the world are preparing to celebrate the annual festival of Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice, which marks the end of the annual haj pilgrimage, by slaughtering goats, sheep, cows and camels in commemoration of the Prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah. Eid al-Adha in India falls on September 25. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

Actors reenact the famous picture of a sailor kissing a nurse on the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day, near a replica sculpture in New York's Times Square August 14, 2015. The replica is being displayed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the iconic photograph of the most famous kiss in American history that was captured between an American sailor and nurse on August 14, 1945, marking the end of World War Two. The actors are hired by a tour bus company to pose for groups to photograph. (Photo by Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

An explosion at a petrochemical plant is seen in Rizhao, Shandong province, July 16, 2015. According to Xinhua News Agency, a fire broke out after the explosion, which was caused by a liquified hydrocarbon leak at the plant, on Thursday morning. There was no report of casualties yet. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

In this handout photo provided by Warner Brothers Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, Tom Cruise plays Lieutenant Colonel Bill Cage, a soldier who replays his last day while trying to fight aliens, in director Doug Liman's “All You Need Is Kill”. The film is set to premiere on March 14, 2014. (Photo by David James/Warner Brothers Pictures)

A pile of destroyed cars of teachers sits outside Briarwood elementary school in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma May 22, 2013. Rescue workers with sniffer dogs picked through the ruins on Wednesday to ensure no survivors remained buried after a deadly tornado left thousands homeless and trying to salvage what was left of their belongings. Curvature of horizon in the photo is due to an ultra-wide angle lens. (Photo by Rick Wilking/Reuters)