A "kolam" (also frequently known as "rangoli") is a free-hand drawing typically made by women or girls using rice flour or chalk and placed on the threshold of homes in India, particularly South India. Often complex geometric and mathematical designs, they can signify welcome or celebration or even just a properly cared for home.
The kolams you see on the plaza on September 2nd are created by the students in Dr. Darsana Manayathu Sasi's Malayalam classes and members of the Longhorn Malayalee Students Association. The text you see is written in Malayalam, the major language of Kerala, a state in South India, as well as the Malayali diaspora around the world, including major communities in areas such as the Gulf and Houston, TX. UT has been teaching Malayalam longer and more consistently than any other university in the U.S. and our Library boasts the 2nd largest collection of Malayalam materials in the country, including a growing collection of Malayali popular literature.
KOLAMS ON THE PCL PLAZA WELCOME EVENT
Friday, September 2
All day
Feeding a Thousand Souls by 
Practicing Art and Anthropology by 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Generic License.
