From Floors to Indoors: The Kolam Collection

The Irulas are famous for one thing: catching squiggly little creatures on the ground, getting their essence out, and putting them back where they caught them, so the snakes and the people around them can thrive. Perhaps the ladies of Irula hamlets in Kunnappattu, Anna Nagar and MGR Nagar in Mamallapuram are inspired by the snake catchers among them. For they too take the squiggly kolam drawn on the ground and capture its essence on cloth.