The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Waves of colour along the Marina

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 15, 2007
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Waves of colour along the Marina

Staff Reporter

`Kolam' contest on the eve of `Pongal' churns out imaginative designs

REVIVING TRADITION: Participants at the `kolam' contest held on the Marina beach as part of Pongal celebrations on Sunday. — PHOTO: S.R. RAGHUNATHAN

CHENNAI: Marina may be the second largest beach in the world. But even that has to be reinvented for the bored Chennai residents.

On Sunday, the 3-km stretch of the inner lane along the beachfront from the Light House to Ezhilagam turned colourful as young and the old alike participated in a `kolam' contest. The contest will go on till Monday - Pongal day. Policemen have been posted to guard the intricate and colourful hand-drawn patterns.

An official of the Chennai Corporation, that organised the event, said the contest was open to all. Not surprisingly, children aged seven years, 56-year-old men, women from lower middle class and a State official's granddaughter participated. The civic body supplied the crystal salt and colours for the kolams.

The resultant designs were varied and imaginative. A group depicted three men cooking pongal on the moon with a PSLV rocket in the background. Another went abstract by portraying with Shiva's third eye and Cobra. Others used motifs such as colourful flowers, sugarcane-pongal-pot ensemble, bullock, tiger, elephant and peacock. Even the Ripon building found a place.

R. Ananthanarayanan, 56, arrived at the beach at 3.30 p.m. and decided to help some schoolchildren with ideas. He ended up drawing his own kolam.

The Corporation has invited judges from Dakshina Chitra to evaluate the designs. The results will be announced on Monday at 10 a.m. A civic body official said the aim was to revive a dying tradition.

Sudarshan Patnaik, the well-known sand sculptor from Orissa, will make thematic sculptures for Pongal and Kaanum Pongal. The Chennai Port is assisting the Corporation.

But nothing changed for some people. Vendors on the Marina remained curious onlookers. Cricket enthusiasts at the Marina continued with their game. As the youths dispersed, they checked out the colourful patterns, making their own assumptions on who would win.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section