SAFIER, the Integral Education initiative of Sri Aurobindo Society, invited Grace Gitadelila from Auroville to conduct a course in getting initiated to Kolam through the approach of Integral Yoga and integrating it with one’s self-development. All the sessions of the course were conducted in the Society House, the main office building of Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry, except the last session which happened in the house of the facilitator. A group of six eager learners took up the 6-month ‘Integral Basic Kolam Yoga Learning Course’ starting on 14th January 2024, to experience the deep symbolism behind the patterns of the Kolam, making it a practice for development of the body, heart and mind with the soul as the guiding element and carrying forward as Kolam Yoga practitioners and integrating the Kolam Yoga into the syllabus in schools. There were 12 sessions that were grouped into 3 modules of 4 sessions each spread over a period of 6 months.

Kolam Yoga is an ancient traditional practice for the body, mind, emotions and soul. It is considered an ‘Ephemeral Art form’ that is made up of powdered grids of dots and lines.

• The body is actively involved in manifesting its rhythm and the pendulum-like dance movement helps in laying down the pattern in symmetry and gives a measure and balance to the form of the Kolam.
• The emotions get involved and refined by the joys emanating from the beauty, harmony and stories that emerge from doing the Kolam practice.
• The mind gets involved with the sacred geometry, the mystical codes, the concentration and alignment that is necessary for Kolam practice.
• The soul energy is uplifted and helps harmonise and anchor the body-heart-mind to a deeper presence, as the Kolam practice done with concentration and quietude, gives a deeper insight to the symbol that emerges and makes one closer to the story behind the Kolam.

Each session had one quality from the ’Mother’s symbol’, which anchored the topic of the session and gave it a deeper significance.

Here is a brief review of the 12 sessions taken:

1. The quality that was taken up was Equanimity from the Mother’s Symbol. After a brief sharing on the quality, it was discussed how this becomes a necessary quality to practise Kolam, to remain steady and still, in spite of challenges. The Paambu Kolam, was taken up, as this is one of the most ancient forms of Kolam. Paambu is snake in Tamil and the movement of the snake with its highs and lows, the curves, the mountains-and-the-valley movement became the highlight of the Kolam. Becoming aware of the breath and the sensations within one’s own body, emotions and thoughts was stressed upon.
    
2. Receptivity was the quality that was taken up. How to take up the Kolam practice, with equanimity along with being receptive to the flow of creativity, to the inspiration is very important. The Shaivite Padi Kolam was displayed graciously by Grace, and the participants explored this Kolam form with enthusiasm, constructing Temples with varying Gopurams, beginning with 4 concentric squares and proceeding with the help of the magic grids (made of 9 squares), and finally stood in their temple with great joy.
   
   
3. Peace was the quality that was taken up along with the Vaishnavite Padi Kolam which was the Kolam learning of the day. The Vaishnavite kolam has a dynamic expansive format with curvy lines and more motifs from nature as elements in the Kolam style. The ashta-konam being at the centre as the symbol of Lakshmi and then spreading harmoniously around the centre with lotuses, birds and other flowers as its embellishment, doing the Vaishanvite kolam was a very powerful and expansive experience.
    
4. Aspiration was the quality that was taken up with the Brahma’s knot style of Kolam learning. The earlier three qualities were under the domain of the Maheshwari Power force of the Divine Mother, while the quality of Aspiration fell under the transition stage of entering into Mahakali’s Power force. Brahma’s knot style is called the Paddi Sun Symbol - Swastika & Suvastika was taken up as the topic of the day. The participants explored and experienced the joys of creating knots and several forms emerged from these explorations, like Sita’s braid, the flight of a bird etc.
   
   
5. Courage was the quality that was taken up as a necessary quality to explore the Ner Pulli Kodu Kolam - Part I, which means making dots which are in straight lines and joining the dots with lines, so that mirrored images are made, which are also in perfect symmetry. Discovering symmetry in forms enables stability, balance and alignment and helps in the culturing and refinement needed in our self-growth - an education by itself! The eight star symbol was explored which forms the motif for embroideries in many folk forms in India and European countries especially the Balkan nations. In this session, fishes, butterflies and lotuses came alive!
    
6. Sincerity was the quality that anchored the session where the ‘Ner Pulli Kodu Kolam - Part II’ was further explored with respect to animal forms and other aspects of nature such as elephants, peacocks and flowers. The participants were grouped in pairs and made large Ner Pulli structures of 7x7 or 7x5 dots. What emerged were beautiful patterns which were good lessons in mirrored symmetrical images, along with the joy of working quietly in silence and discovering their stability through symmetry.
    
7. Goodness was the quality that helped us go into the next theme which revolved around ‘Water and its quality of dissolving boundaries’. The participants were facilitated to do body movements to open up and feel the movement of water and its fluidity. The ‘Idukku Pulli Kodu Kolam’ was taught with an added aspect of rotational symmetry. This was challenging but helped in getting more familiar with the relation in the movement of water and the movement of the lines in the kolam.
    
8. Gratitude was the quality that we landed on the day we explored the ‘Idukku Pulli Kodu Kolam’ with respect to Nature’s Forms & Shapes and the Sacred Shat-kona (the six pointed star, in the Indian symbolic imagery, stands for the union between Purusha and Prakriti, or Shiva and Shakti) or the 6 line star symbolising the 6 facets of Shanmuga. These Yantra kolams are not meant to be threshold kolams but are powerful sacred symbols used for protection and prosperity and made in sacred spaces.
    
9. Generosity was the quality that anchored the session which was the first session on Sikku Ner Pulli Kolam - with Weaving & Braiding patterns. Sikku kolams are kolams where the pullis (dots) are looped around and we started with the simplest which is the square of 3x3 which becomes a part of Krishna’s anklet, a very common Sikku Kolam motif. In this session we learnt the difference between a Kolam and a Rangoli design and also that Kolam is not merely a folk art but a Script, a real language, and can be elevated to the level of yoga, as the Kolam Yoga.
   
   
10.  Humility was the quality that was meditated upon, mainly ‘Humility in Action’ and the Sikku Ner Pulli Kolam was further explored where Grace helped the participants to understand Kolam like a Beeja mantra where the Pullis are the silent pauses. The participants attempted making a jumbo-sized kolam on the floor and joyously danced on it, in rhythmic steps, forming a continuous rhythm.
    
    
11. Perseverance was the quality that was taken up as the anchor for the session on ‘Sikku Idukku Pulli Kolam’. In Tamil, Idukku Pulli is also called Sandhu Pulli where dots are placed alternately and most importantly they are all joined in a single continuous circuit. The participants placed a central line of 9 dots and went up to a line of 5 dots, placed alternately, and created a pattern of the heart looped 6 faced stars all entwined into a  single circuit which resembled the rising Kundalini.
    
    
12. Progress is the quality that helped us make a nice summary of all our learning over the past 11 sessions. We need to keep the remembrance of always progressing ahead with all our learnings, which will help us be the guardians of this ancient script. Grace facilitated the ‘Sarasvati Yantra Kolam’ and the ‘Pu’ kolam in the ‘Sikku Idukku Pulli’ (knotty) style. The last session happened at the residence and centre of Kolam Yoga and it ended with a lot of happy participation of making the complex pattern of joining the two types of kolams, amidst a heavy downpour of rain! Our energies, efforts, joy and the rain – all mingled together in a happy communion!

The Integral Basic Kolam Yoga Learning Course concluded on 23rd June 2023 with distribution of certificates and an aspiration to include the learnings of the course into one’s daily life by way of practice, exploring further the art-form as a Script and taking the mystical codes to schools (and all students of Life) so as to keep the Kolam Yoga alive.