KOLAM is as much a part of the Deepavali celebrations as muruku and delicious curry. For those who don’t know, kolams are motifs drawn on a flat surface using chalk, rice powder or rice grains, with touches of colours and other enhancements onto it.

Many Hindu families paint kolam in their homes during auspicious occassions such as festivals, weddings and birthdays. Kolam is believed to bring blessings to the homes.

As part of their Deepavali celebrations this year, Sunway Pyramid shopping centre in Subang Jaya, Selangor, recently invited 10 art and design students from Sunway University College to create kolams in the shopping mall, with a twist.

Instead of using the usual coloured rice and chalks, the kolams were designed and decorated with fruits, coffee beans and flower petals. It was all the more challenging as the students were given only nine hours to conceptualise and create the kolam.

The Art & Design students putting up the finishing touches to one of the Kolams with a white carved staue of an elephant, located at the Ground Floor of Sunway Pyramid.

“Kolam-making is interesting and challenging. What made it difficult for us is that we have to use our hands as the mouse cursors this time around. There were no computers or Photoshop to aid us,” said Jacqueline Chong, one of the students who created the kolam.

The students decided to present kolams that reflected the people’s diversity. Jacqueline said they use materials such as fruits and coffee beans to represent different communities in their kolam designs.

Jacqueline and the other students found the experience of working on their kolams for the shopping centre enriching.

“It gave us the opportunity to put what we have learned in our course to action, and also to work as a team.

“Working in a team, we share different ideas and opinions relating to the designs. From time to time, we got different materials from the organisers to include the design. It challenged us to think out of the box so that we could improvise and improve on the designs whenever necessary,” she added.

The students also completed two other sets kolams with white elephant motifs, which is important in Hinduism.

The students’ kolams are at the “Water Feature” area on the ground floor of the shopping mall until Oct 18.

The shopping centre’s marketing communications executive Jessica Teng said that their Deepavali celebration this year is centred on the theme Symphony of Senses.

Students working hard on their kolam.

Hence, they are organising activities that appeal to the different senses, such as the Classical of Rhythm performances during this festive period.