Rangoli is a folk art form in India. Colorful patterns are made on the floor as part of the celebrations during the festivals like Diwali- to welcome guests at home. And it is also considered to be a very important part in the spiritual process while celebrating the festival as there is a belief that when you have a rangoli outside home, the evil forces attempting to enter are repelled. 

In some traditions, simple patterns are made everyday by women in the family as it is also thought to bring good luck.

The white rangoli powder, also known as chirodi, is a powdery substance like sand, fine granular in nature.
To create different shades, it needs to be mixed really well with the colored/dyed powder.

Over the years, the art form has taken a creative bend and there are exhibitions held where the portrait artists come together and try to create portraits using this medium of rangoli powder.

This year I had taken part in one group exhibition of portrait rangoli.
Here is the picture of my final Rangoli of Mother Teresa

Process images:

To begin with, the sketch is pasted on the floor. 

The practice is to start filling up the area from the top left corner and then finish off at the right bottom corner.

First I prepared the white and blue shades of the cloth, filled that up and then started making colors for the skin.

Skin colors are prepared by mixing red color with yellows and browns which is then evenly mixed and rubbed with the chirodi (granular white colored powder) to obtain desired shades.

We were given 3 days to put rangoli in the exhibition. It took me about 35 hours to complete it.

Close-ups:

Thank you :)