Murray State Theses and Dissertations
Abstract
Kōlams are a ritual art form found in India, most commonly in the southern state
of Tamil Nadu. Comprised of different interlocking knots, these women-drawn designs are placed on the entrances to people’s home to showcase the household’s emotional state and ask the earth goddess Bhūdevi for forgiveness. More aesthetically pleasing kōlams are considered latshanam, where the design permeates beauty; monolinearity is one such aspect that implements latshanam. Using graph theory, we examine one style of these drawings, the labyrinthine variety, to identify if a given kōlam is monolinear and how to construct monolinear kōlams.
Year manuscript completed
2023
Year degree awarded
2023
Author's Keywords
kolams, ethnomathematics, graph theory, topology
Thesis Advisor
Elizabeth Donovan
Committee Member
Robert Donnelly
Committee Member
Lesley Wiglesworth
Document Type
Thesis
Recommended Citation
Hartmann, Nathan, "Kōlams in Graph Theory: Mathematics in South Indian Ritual Art" (2023). Murray State Theses and Dissertations. 306.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/etd/306