Best Kolam With Middle Dots 5 to 3

Design facts

Dot grid

5 to 3 dots — tapering from 5 dots across the middle down to 3

Structure

Dot-Grid

Tradition

Kolam

Video

8 min 8 s, uploaded 2 May 2021

Views

44,000 on YouTube as of 5 October 2026

Step by step: how to draw Best Kolam With Middle Dots 5 to 3

1. Mark the 5-to-3 interlaced dot grid — a middle column of 5 dots, a column of 4 either side and a column of 3 at each outer edge, every column set half a step between its neighbours.
2. In the centre draw a small circle and ring it with six pointed petals, filling each petal with white to make a shaded six-petal flower.
3. Around the flower draw a six-pointed star with sides that curve inward — each point resting on an outer dot and each inner corner on a petal tip.
4. At each of the six inner corners of the star add a small half-circle of nested arcs, edged with a row of dots.
5. From each point of the star run a curved stem outward and end it in a five-petal flower with a small circle centre — six flowers around the star.
6. In each of the six gaps between stems draw one large spiral curl inside the loop of the stem, and end the short branch of each stem in a small curl so the vines link the six flowers into a ring.

Related designs

• Dussehra Muggulu Designs
• Alpona Design With 5 to 3 Dots
• Kunda Muggulu Designs

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