12 to 4 Dots Kolam

Design facts

Dot grid

12 to 4 dots — tapering from 12 dots across the middle down to 4

Structure

Dot-Grid

Tradition

Kolam

Video

5 min 24 s, uploaded 23 December 2024

Views

138,000 on YouTube as of 1 October 2026

Step by step: how to draw 12 to 4 Dots Kolam

1. Mark the 12-to-4 dot grid.
2. In each quadrant draw a Christmas tree along the diagonal — its tip at the inner corner beside the central plus of dots, crowned with a yellow star, its scalloped tiers fanning out towards the corner.
3. At the outer corner of each tree draw a red diamond trunk.
4. Draw curved tier lines inside each tree and fill the tiers green.
5. Dot red baubles along every tier line.
6. Along the outer edges of each tree hang small round ornaments on short stalks.
7. Edge the sides of each tree that face the central plus of dots with a white scalloped border.

Related designs

• Muggulu Designs With 12×4 Dots
• Pulli Kolam 12 Dots
• 12 to 4 Dots Flower Pot Rangoli

Further reading

• Venkatraman Gopalan & Brian K. VanLeeuwen, “A topological approach to creating any pulli kolam, an artform from South India”, Forma 30, 35–41 (2015). doi:10.5047/forma.2015.005

Read more

• Grids, Lattices, and Thinking in Space
• Counting the Grid
• The Kolam Style Families
• Tamil Nadu