Feeding A Thousand Souls

Every day before sunrise, millions of Tamil women in southeast Asia create the kolam, an ephemeral ritual drawing created with rice flour on the thresholds of houses, businesses, and temples. The kolam welcomes Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, good luck, wellness, and alertness, while banishingMudevi, the goddess of poverty, misery, ill-luck, sickness, and laziness. It also acts as a reminder to remember and ask forgiveness from the earth goddess Bhudevi for walking on her. Creating the kolam is a ritual of compassion and generosity, and is meant to feed a thousand souls by providingnourishment for insects and small creatures.The kolam forms a connection between the spiritual and the natural world for many Hindu women. This is the first comprehensive book on the kolam in the English language. It examines its significance in historical, mathematical, ecological, anthropological, and literary contexts. Feeding a ThousandSouls is the culmination of Vijaya Nagarajan's many years of research and writing on the kolam and on the experiences, thoughts, and voices of Tamil women.