Onam pookalam: a round design, a simple first-day design, a Kathakali face

The flower carpet laid on the courtyard floor through the ten days of Onam, from Atham to Thiruvonam, for a home, a college or an office contest. The three designs are a round pookalam of concentric rings with a brass nilavilakku at the centre, a small first-day pookalam of three rings with a leaf star, and a contest pookalam with a Kathakali face. Each is laid on a red-oxide courtyard, a college corridor or an office foyer floor.

• a home courtyard for Onam
• a college inter-class contest
• an office floor decoration
• a reference for a first-day pookalam at home

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the designs?

Round is a full ring design with a lit lamp at the centre. Simple is a small three-ring design for the first day. The Kathakali face is a contest design with a face at the centre.

What petals are used?

The round design uses white thumba, orange marigold, red chethi and yellow chrysanthemum petals.

Are these instructions?

No. They show finished pookalams so you can see the design. They are not step-by-step guides.

Can I ask for another design?

Yes. Type the design you want and the same floors are used. The result is a request, not a promised match.

About toile

This page is a showcase and a starting point: nine samples already rendered, three readings of the pack crossed with three styles, each shown at the size and ratio it was made for. Take any of them further on the wall with a few words, or ask for all nine again under your own direction; a sign-in keeps what you make, and it is free while Toile is new. The recipe behind each sample — the subject, the style, the palette, the framing — travels with the image rather than staying private to the render: it is in the alt text of every sample and in the page's own structured data, so a search engine reads the same handles a person would.