AN image of Sita Devi from the Ramayana epic is caught in a graceful dance pose, surrounded by colourful leaves while another dancer in all her finery, is captured doing the bharata natyam.

These two images are all part of the artistic contemporary kolam by students of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in celebration of Deepavali, the Indian festival of lights.

The six kolams are on display at each level of The Pavilion in Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Kolam is a expressive artform, drawn using fine rice powder and is usually done by women in front of their homes. Traditional kolam is composed of curved loops, drawn around a grid pattern of dots. It is believed that a kolam will bring prosperity to the household.

The team of 250 local and international arts students and 12 lecturers from the various faculties of LUCT worked on the designs as part of their classroom activities.

“Twenty entries were short-listed and six were selected based on the innovative patterns and iconic Indian symbols that represent the essence of Indian culture,” says Saladin Gelam Mohamed, a lecturer from the Design Innovation Faculty.

Close to 850kg of broken rice, 100 bottles of food colouring, 60 rolls of masking tape, 60 bottles of PVA glue (300ml), 450 pieces of board paper and 60 flat brushes and countless hours went into making the six designs.

Two of the designs measure 10m by 7m while the remaining four measure four sq metres. They have all the elements, motifs and symbols of the Indian gods and beautiful floral designs as well as vibrant colours of peacock feathers.

Multi-media student Haitham Fouad, 33, from Palestine helped draw the outlines of the design. “This is fascinating and it’s the first time I see rice being used for drawing patterns.”

Malaysian Rudy Zulkifly, 19, who has just returned home after living abroad his whole life, was responsible for drawing the designs to scale on the floor and filling them with the coloured rice grains.

“What a wonderful way to re-learn about other cultures in the country,” he says with a huge grin.

The six kolams are on display until Oct 30.