Interaction - Bachelor

Kolam

கோலம் / Kolam is an interactive installation that reimagines a South Indian drawing ritual using projection and real rice powder. Participants draw, sweep, and begin again, mirroring the daily practice while a digital layer supports each stage. The work preserves the physical act of kolam while making the tradition shareable in a simple, sensory format.

Anto Mishaeala Murugan

“We must learn about other cultures in order to understand, in order to love, and in order to preserve our common world heritage.”

yo yo ma

This installation is my way of opening up a cultural practice so it can be understood, felt and carried forward by people beyond the community it comes from.

Cultural context

A Living Heritage

India is home to countless art forms passed down through generations, sometimes even within a single family line. Kolam is one such living tradition, preserved through daily practice instead of museums. The patterns, techniques and meanings are inherited, adapted and re-interpreted across time. It is a quiet thread that connects past and present.

What is kolam?

Kolam is a traditional rice-flour drawing practice found in Tamil Nadu and nearby regions in South India. Each morning, family members, traditionally women, decorate the space outside their homes with hand-drawn patterns made from finely powdered rice flour. These designs are not just artistic. They are expressions of identity, culture and continuity.

Meaning and Cultural Significance

Kolam is more than decoration. It is a daily and ceremonial practice that welcomes guests, celebrates good fortune and brings a sense of care to the home. The designs are drawn with rice flour, which also feeds ants, birds and other small creatures, turning the act into a quiet gesture of respect for all living things. Whether created every morning at the doorstep or displayed during festivals such as Pongal, Deepavali or weddings, kolam reflects values of hospitality, mindfulness and renewal. Each pattern is meant to fade and be redrawn, reminding us that beauty is temporary and created to be shared, not preserved. Passed down through generations, often from mother to daughter, kolam carries both cultural memory and mathematical rhythm, forming a continuous link between tradition, community and everyday life.

The Daily Ritual

Choosing the type of kolam for my project

In Indian culture, kolam is known by many names such as rangoli in the northern regions, mungullu, alpana, muggulu and puvidal. Within Tamil Nadu itself, there are also several variations; pulli kolam (dot patterns), maavu kolam (drawn with wet rice flour), kambi kolam and rangoli kolam (usually colourful and used during festivals) just to name a few. For my project I chose to focus on pulli kolam because it is the simplest way to begin learning this artform and also carries a sense of nostalgia for me. It was the style my mother first tried to teach me when I was a child, although I often ended up just playing with the rice flour rather than finishing the designs. I might also draw inspiration from kambi kolam, as both pulli and kambi are the simplest forms and are the ones you most often see drawn in front of people’s houses.

Project intent

Kolam has always been tied to my mother, my grandmother, and the women who came before me. This project is a quiet way of honouring them, while carrying those nostalgic memories forward and letting others outside my culture experience it too.

Design concept

The goal of this project was not to replace the traditional kolam ritual with technology, but to translate its essence into a shared, interactive format. Instead of creating a digital simulation, I wanted to keep the physical act of drawing with powder at the centre, and use projection only as a supporting layer. The concept is built around three ideas: ritual, repetition and impermanence: draw, sweep, begin again. The installation preserves the tactile, embodied nature of kolam while opening it up to people who may be experiencing it for the first time.

Kolam Design process

A look at how the installation was developed

interaction

The interaction is designed to stay close to the real kolam ritual. Participants draw on the platform using rice powder, then sweep it away when they are done, just as they would in a traditional setting. The projected visuals guide each stage of the process, but the main interaction always happens through the body, the powder and the act of making.
The on-screen visuals were first designed in Figma, then rebuilt in TouchDesigner to be projected onto the platform at the correct scale. The stages of the experience are advanced through a simple keyboard input off-screen, which keeps the technology hidden and lets the ritual remain the focus.

Building the platform

The platform was inspired by the traditional bajot table, a low square floor table used in rituals and prayer in South Asian culture. I adapted its form into a wooden projection surface, with the edges lined in sequins to reference the decorative fabrics commonly used in Indian celebrations. The platform is raised on gold-coloured aluminium pots, which keeps it low to the ground so participants naturally bend down, recreating the posture of drawing kolam on the floor.
The powder box and device stands were laser cut to match the setup, keeping the build practical while still rooted in cultural reference.

Kolam demo

Final installation walkthrough

Limitations and Future Improvements

This version of the installation uses a keyboard input to advance between stages, rather than gesture or posture tracking. A future iteration would replace this with camera-based interaction so the experience becomes fully hands-free. The projection is currently designed for a single participant and a fixed platform size. Expanding the scale, supporting multiple users, and automating the powder reset process are areas for further development.

references

Kolam Documentary:
Ramnath, A. (2022, March 08). KOLAM – Women’s Ritual for Compassion, Ecology and Harmony [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLKD0r82PRE&list=LL&index=3

Anto Mishaeala Murugan

Mishaeala is a final-year Interaction Design and Computer Science student and an aspiring UI/UX designer. She is passionate about the intersection of technology, culture, and creative storytelling, exploring how interaction design can foster meaningful human experiences. With skills in user experience and interaction design, front-end web development, and digital prototyping, she enjoys transforming ideas into intuitive and engaging interfaces that connect people and technology.