About Maya Sharma: Discover the Art and Story Behind Our Unique Designs

I am Maya Sharma, a Tambrahm, a native of Kerala, born and brought up in Mumbai. Hence, I am a pan-Indian who loves to learn and know about the richness, diversity and hues of various arts, cultures & traditions of Incredible India.

About The Blog

One of the cultures predominant in Tamil culture is the art of Kolam. Not only are one’s hands used deftly in this art but the brain participates too by inducing creative juices to create an aura and charm with a kolam.

“It’s all in the family”……………………

My first inspiration to draw kolams came from my Amma(mother). She was dexterous in the art of maavu kolam (maavu here means wet rice flour) like many other ladies from the community. She kept the kolam simple but elegant. Neither a single line in the kolam would be crooked nor any design would be asymmetrical. I expressed my wish to learn the art. She asked me to start with kola podi (podi means powder) as it is the best way to stabilize one hands on the lines and curves in the pattern. Once comfortable with the podi, I graduated to the wet maavu.

My mother-in-law became my next inspiration as she excelled in big and huge kolams. In fact, she drew the main kolam for the rituals at my engagement ceremony. That kolam was big and a feast to my eye. From that day on, my ambition to draw big grew bigger too. In Mumbai, I had to satisfy myself with medium sized kolams because of space crunch. After I shifted to Bahrain, my house offered a huge space outside the doorstep. That is when I started exploring with huge kolams.

This blog is dedicated to both the mothers who inspired me to take up the art and draw big eventually. I sincerely hope that this blog helps you all to appreciate an ancient art that is worthy enough to be carried forward to the impending generations. I also hope that you will visit the blog again with a smile.