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.

If the most popular foods of Rio de Janeiro have one thing in common, it is their informality. You can find fine restaurants in the city, but they do not set Rio apart from other places. What does set it apart, and what invariably brings its residents, known as "Cariocas," together is the unpretentious food they eat in bright, loud, crowded bars and restaurants, on busy street corners, or after a day at the beach. Here: A view of traditional bolinhos de bacalhau (fried codfish balls) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 7, 2016. (Photo by Sergio Moraes/Reuters)

Iraqi children play with a ball on a street blocked with burning tyres, amid a general strike in the southern city of Basra, on November 25, 2019. The demonstrations rocking the capital and Shiite-majority south since October 1 are the biggest grassroots movement the country has seen in decades. Sparked by outrage over rampant government corruption, poor services and lack of jobs, they have since gone straight to the source: calling out the ruling system as inherently flawed and in need of a total overhaul. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

Farmers harvest cocoa fruits at a plantation in Gantarang Keke Village, South Sulawesi, Indonesia May 8, 2015. Sulawesi is at the heart of Asia's largest cocoa producing region, and is where some international confectioners are looking to boost output to feed growing demand for chocolate in the region. (Photo by Yusuf Ahmad/Reuters)

Women from a local cocoa farmers association called BLAYEYA work in a cocoa farm in Djangobo, Niable in eastern Ivory Coast, November 17, 2014. BLAYEYA is a women's only association with each member owning a field and planting cocoa. (Photo by Thierry Gouegnon/Reuters)

In this Monday, January 23, 2017 photo, chicken feet snacks shop owner Leung Kin-kung testes a chicken feet in Hong Kong. Saturday marks the start of the lunar Year of the Rooster and families in China will reunite for festivities, fireworks and food. While tradition calls for feasting on “auspicious” foods, many will also munch on staple snacks like “phoenix claws”, the Chinese name for chicken feet. (Photo by Vincent Yu/AP Photo)

Muay Thai participants, fight during the Kibra Youth Initiative boxing exhibition at the Kibera Fort Jesus grounds in Nairobi on December 23, 2024. The purpose of the boxing exhibition is to promote boxing and Muay Thai in the local communities and help prevention of crime and substance abuse among the growing youth within the area and surrounding communities. (Photo by Simon Maina/AFP Photo)

A combination photo shows various popular street foods under $6 from various hawker food stalls and eateries in Singapore, taken between July 28 to 31, 2016. Top row (L to R) bak chor mee, soya sauce chicken; Middle row (L to R) laksa, hokkien mee, nasi lemak, ice kachang; Bottom row (L to R) rojak, roti prata and satay. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)