Neighbor Intrigued by Woman's Mysterious Artwork on Doorway: 'What Is It?'
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A post about intricate floral chalk drawings outside a neighbor's doorway has gone viral on social media.
Shared by Reddit user u/capnricky, the post has garnered over 15,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments since it was uploaded on July 9 in the r/whatisit subreddit.
The post, titled "My neighbor has been doing this at her doorway once a week for the past few weeks. It's beautiful, but what is it?", includes photographs of distinct symmetrical patterns drawn on the ground outside a doorway.
The chalk or powder drawings change weekly, each featuring elaborate designs resembling flowers and other natural motifs. The caption says that the Reddit user sees a new design each morning and has made a habit of photographing them, planning to compile the images into a photo album for their neighbor.
"I don't want to culturally offend," the user wrote, adding: "It's really pretty, and I do my best to keep my 5 yo [year old] twins away from it."
Other Reddit users in the comments quickly identified the mysterious artwork as kolam, a traditional South Indian art form that dates back generations.
A pinned comment by user u/Cheekbish read: "It's actually called a Kolam—an art form from the southern part of India and drawn on the ground using rice powder or chalk. It's said to bring good luck, positivity, and prosperity."
Kolam is a folk tradition deeply rooted in Tamil Nadu. An October 2023 article in IRE Journals describes it as an intergenerational practice based on geometric symmetry and creative interpretation.
The artist draws with chalk or charcoal, beginning with a grid of dots known as pulli, which are then connected by looping or straight lines to form complex, symmetrical patterns. The article says, "The artist uses his imagination to create an image that represents what he wants to draw," often coloring the design using natural pigments or watercolor paints.
Kolam is more than decorative—it holds daily and spiritual significance in Tamil culture. The Indian nonprofit Sahapedia outlines the practice as a "daily women's ritualistic art form created by Tamil Hindu women throughout Tamil Nadu in southeastern India." The designs are typically drawn at dawn and sometimes again at dusk, especially during Brahma muhurta, a period believed to be auspicious for spiritual activity.
"Each day before dawn … millions of women in the towns, villages, and cities of Tamil Nadu (and Pondicherry) draw kōlam on the thresholds and floors of houses, temples, and businesses," Sahapedia notes. "In Tamil culture, the threshold is of great significance as the meeting point of the internal and the external."
These "threshold designs," Sahapedia adds, symbolize beauty, divinity, and good fortune. Traditionally, they are drawn with finely ground rice powder, though chalk or stone powder is often mixed in for durability and cost-saving. The technique requires precise control and rhythm, as the powder is carefully released between the fingers in a continuous flow. The result is a transient artwork, often swept away and redrawn daily, in keeping with its ritual nature.
'Amazing'
Reddit users applauded the unique artwork and the original poster's respectful curiosity.
U/estcaroauteminfirma posted, "Amazing is what it is," and u/Official_Business_ wrote: "They're beautiful."
U/Infiniscroll commented: "I love this form of art. It shows the shape of the mind in some intriguing ways. They are also very mathematical!"
U/Nice_Marketing_9252 noted: "So if OP [the original poster] takes pictures every day and makes album like he/she says, then Kolam will actually work because it will already bring positivity. Maybe others will follow."
U/PresidentMeeseeks added: "It's so thoughtful of you to want to give her an album of her Kolam patterns! I'm a South Indian living abroad and it's gestures like these that encourage us to integrate with our new communities. Also, look out for her designs on festival dates. Those would be even more elaborate and pretty."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via the Reddit messaging system.
Stock image: A woman creates a kolam drawing on the ground.
Stock image: A woman creates a kolam drawing on the ground.
Getty
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