This Margazhi, Chennai locals innovate with ‘kolam’ desserts

For Aarthi Santhanam, who runs the bakery Bakespeare Tales, inspiration came from her sister’s mother-in-law. “She doesn’t do the north Indian rangoli or the south Indian pulli kolam. She does these amazing, free-hand designs and hence I decided to do a special ‘kolam’ on cake for her birthday recently,” she said.

Using a paintbrush and edible gold luster dust to draw the kolam, Aarthi recreated the design that her sister’s mother-in-law drew outside her home. But as such intricate detailing on cake needs a firm base, Aarthi covered the cake in a layer of chocolate ganache, which is sturdy once frozen.

A few users on Twitter also took to using data integration software like Safe Software, to create lotus kolams and pulli kolams. The spatial data support software helped users create kolams that were either perfect copies of hand drawn kolams or avant-garde interpretations of the same.

For Sowmya Baskaran, founder of Fourth Street Co which curates edible gifts, this was an opportunity to combine Margazhi and Christmas celebrations. As part of a Mazhgari gift box, she prepared gingerbread cookies with a kolam hand-drawn with icing.

“Any art form has a core essence which needs to be maintained when it takes new forms. I thought cookies would be a fun way to showcase our traditional art forms and reintroduce it to audiences who have not been in touch with the kolam art form for a long time,” said Sowmya. “I have many memories of drawing kolams with my siblings outside my house. It used to be a family affair where everyone chipped in on the design, colour, and shape of the kolam. Now, I’ve got less time to do it, so this is a great way to stay in touch with the art form,” said Aarthi.