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.

An Ambassador car, licensed as taxi rolls past other vehicles through a busy road in Kolkata, india, Monday, May 26, 2014. India's oldest car factory has abruptly suspended production of the hulking Ambassador sedan that has a nearly seven-decade history as the car of the Indian elite. (Photo by Bikas Das/AP Photo)

Workers carry baskets of hand-picked tea leaves at the Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. The 155-year-old Makaibari Tea Estate recently sold it's Darjeeling tea, named Silver Tips Imperial, for $1,850 a kilo to buyers from the U.K., the U.S. and Japan, becoming the most expensive Indian tea ever sold. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Indian students play with coloured powders as they celebrate “holi” or the “festival of colours” during a special function in Kolkata on March 12, 2017. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours, is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month, and will be celebrated on March 13 this year. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

A model makes a video call backstage during the Lakme Fashion Week X FDCI in Mumbai, India, Thursday, March 9, 2023. At the recently held premier fashion event, the backstage was buzzing as everyone from the hair and make-up artist to the stylist and the designer raced to get that perfect look that would stand out on the catwalk. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

A mahout splashes water on his elephant in the river Sabarmati on a hot summer day in Ahmedabad, India, May 20, 2015. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A Hindu woman gives money to an elephant outside the Lord Jagannath temple ahead of the annual Rath Yatra, or chariot procession, in Ahmedabad, India, July 16, 2015. The annual religious procession commemorates a journey by Hindu god Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra, in specially made chariots. The annual Rath Yatra is celebrated on July 18. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A man dressed as Hindu Lord Shiva looks into the mirror as he gets ready to take part in a religious procession on the eve of Janmashtami festival in Amritsar, India, September 4, 2015. The festival, which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, will be celebrated across India on Saturday. (Photo by Munish Sharma/Reuters)