Geometric patterns drawn fresh each day, or for a festival, at a home's threshold using colored powder, rice flour, or flower petals — a welcome mat remade by hand.
रहन-सहन · Rahan-Sahan
Traditionally drawn by the women of a household at the entrance before sunrise, rangoli patterns range from simple dot-and-line grids to elaborate floral and geometric designs, made with dry colored powders (gulal), rice flour, or fresh flower petals depending on the region and occasion.
The practice carries a practical layer alongside the devotional one: rice flour rangoli, in particular, was traditionally understood as a small offering to insects and birds, feeding them at the threshold before the household's own day begins. Rangoli sees its most elaborate expression during Diwali, already covered in this site's festivals chapter.