Divya Ramanathan and Family Return to Kauai to Offer Her Designs to Siva Nataraja
Months back Divya received Bodhinatha’s blessings to fly to Kauai, as she has done for the past two years, and create a kolam design for Siva. They arrived December 28, and she went right to work after a brief darshan in Kadavul Temple. Such designs are common in India, ephemeral signs of auspiciousness and meaning meant to bless the morning threshold of a home or compound, an offering that has impermanence built into it, for a rain or hungry birds and insects will disappear it before noon.
Meanings
Meaning, you ask? Yes, they are so simple in design, and so rich in symbolism. The Book of Kolams describes the four-armed style:
Here is the core meaning of the Pulli Kolam
1. Continuity and eternity
The unbroken white line weaving in and out around the dot grid symbolizes anadi–ananta—that which has no beginning and no end. Life moves through obstacles yet remains whole.
2. Order within complexity
Though it appears intricate, the design follows strict symmetry and rule. This expresses a key Indian insight:
The universe is patterned, not random.
What looks chaotic is actually governed by dharma.
3. Protection and boundary
The orange border acts as a raksha rekha—a protective enclosure. Kolams traditionally mark the threshold, inviting benevolent forces and discouraging disorder.
4. Fivefold expansion (cross form)
The overall cross-like expansion suggests extension in the four directions with a central bindu, a common sacred geometry idea:
Center = source, Self, Brahman
Four arms = space, time, movement, manifestation
It reflects Vedic spatial cosmology.
5. Red accents as life force
The red forms represent shakti, fertility and auspiciousness—the living pulse within the structure. White is purity and order; red is life and energy.
6. Cultural intent
Such kolams are drawn to:
Invite Lakshmi (prosperity and harmony)
Establish spiritual order at the household threshold
Remind the viewer daily of impermanence held within cosmic order
In one sentence:
This kolam expresses the eternal flow of life, protected by order, energized by shakti, and expanding harmoniously in all directions from a sacred center.