Students Create Rangoli Designs in Art Classes

This week, MBS students in several Upper School Art & Design classes have been creating colorful Rangoli designs to help celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

Diwali, a five-day festival that is celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world, coincides with the Hindu New Year. The festival celebrates new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. Rangoli designs are often made during Diwali and other Hindu festivals and are thought to bring good luck.

Rangoli patterns are typically created on the floor or ground using materials such as colored rice, colored sand or flower petals. The designs can be simple or elaborate geometric shapes, deity impressions, or flower and petal shapes. 

In several of the MBS studio courses, students drew the Rangoli designs on paper using colored pencils, markers, and pens.  The idea for this art project was first spearheaded by MBS alumna Anika Buch ’20 in 2018 has continued since.

The completed Rangoli designs will be displayed outside Anderson Library in the near future.