Makar Sankranti 2023

K. Kusum, daughter of late musicologist S. Krishnamurthy and great-grand daughter of composer Mysore Vasudevacharya, has created nearly a thousand designs ...

As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. Kusum, daughter of the late musicologist S. “The divinity fundamental to rangoli art was what I grew up with, so my book of rangoli art, ‘Lines Divine,’ published by Prism a few years ago, followed by my Fun-Rangolis With Numericals for children, and now the Mandala Art are all extensions of my basic love for floral art. The line drawings can be used as intricate crafting in jewellery, on ceramic tiles, or even copied for sari embroidery or fabric design. Mayans and Australian aborigines, and some devout Europeans are said to have created Mandalas in one form or the other,” explains Kusum. Some of her designs can also be used for kundan work or as standalone paintings. “After seeing my drawings based on rangoli patterns, my aunt, Parimala from Mysore, was the first one to make me move forward for documenting the same,” says Kusum. About six years ago, Kusum brought out nearly 500 intricate contemporary versions of rangoli patterns in the book, Lines Divine. Krishnamurthy and great-grand daughter of composer Mysore Vasudevacharya, has created nearly a thousand designs in rangoli, this time adding a new set of Mandalas for Sankranti. “2023 seemed more special as the last two years of the pandemic has had people restricted in their activity and vivacious thinking. Clinical studies have shown Mandalas to calm down minds and promote sleep and ease depression,” says Kusum, who got in touch with psychologists to seek guidance, while creating the designs. This time, it was a geometric configuration of symbols or Mandalas, as it is known in Sanskrit, with Sankranti representations.