Pookalam Flower Buying and Quantity Guide for Onam

Choose four colours, not eight

A pookalam looks richer with four strong colours than with eight weak ones. The classic Kerala set is yellow and orange marigold, white chrysanthemum or thumba, deep red rose petals and green leaves for the outline. Add purple only if you can buy enough of it to complete a full ring, because a half finished ring is the most visible flaw in a pookalam. Decide the colours before you decide the design, since availability in the market on Uthradam morning is not guaranteed.

How much you actually need by diameter

As a working rule for a flat pookalam of even density, a three foot circle needs roughly two to three kilograms of flowers, a five foot circle needs five to seven kilograms, a seven foot circle needs ten to twelve kilograms, and a ten foot circle needs twenty to twenty five kilograms. Buy ten per cent more than the calculation, because the outer rings consume far more than they look like they will. Area grows with the square of the radius, which is why a circle twice the width needs four times the flowers.

Petals against whole flowers

Whole marigold heads fill fast and are the most economical way to cover area, so use them for the wide middle rings. Loose petals give clean edges and fine detail, so keep them for the innermost rings, the outline and any motif at the centre. Chrysanthemum heads sit low and neat and are ideal for white rings. Rose petals are expensive by weight and bruise quickly, so buy them last, use them in the smallest rings and keep them in the shade until the moment they are laid.

Home, apartment and school scale

A home pookalam at the doorstep is usually three to four feet and one person can lay it in about an hour. An apartment lobby pookalam is five to seven feet, needs three or four people and around two hours, plus a permission from the association for the floor and the cleaning afterwards. A school ground pookalam of ten feet and above becomes a group activity with children, so buy in bulk from the wholesale market, use mostly whole marigold heads and keep the design to wide, simple rings that many hands can fill at once.

Buying fresh, and when

Buy on the morning you will lay the pookalam, or the previous evening at the very latest. Ask the vendor for flowers that have not been sprinkled heavily with water, because wet marigold heads rot and darken by afternoon. Store the bags open and loose in a cool room, never sealed in plastic in the sun. Order in advance for Thiruvonam, since prices rise sharply in the last two days and the good white flowers disappear first.

Planning for rain

Onam falls in a season that still carries rain in most of Kerala and coastal Karnataka. If the space is open, choose a spot with a roof or a sheltered edge, and keep a light plastic sheet ready to cover the finished pookalam if a shower is coming. Do not lay a large pookalam in an open courtyard early in the morning if the sky is heavy. Rain washes colour between the rings and a mixed pookalam cannot be repaired, only relaid.

Laying it out cleanly

Sweep and wipe the floor first, then mark the outer circle with a string tied to a chalk piece and a fixed centre point. Mark each ring boundary lightly with chalk before any flower is placed. Work from the centre outwards so you never step on finished work, and keep each colour in its own bowl beside the person laying it. Two people working outward from opposite sides of the same ring keep the density even. See journal pookalam ideas for layouts that suit different sizes.

Using what is left over

There will be leftovers, and they should not be thrown. Loose petals go into shallow water bowls at the entrance and beside the lamps for the sadhya table. Marigold heads string easily into a short garland for the doorway or the nilavilakku. Damp, bruised flowers go straight into the garden or the compost rather than the bin. If a school or an apartment has bought in bulk, send the surplus home with families in paper bags on the same morning, because it will not survive the night.

One list, one buyer

Write one list with colour, form and weight against each line, and send one person to the market with it. Two enthusiastic buyers always return with three kilograms of the same yellow and nothing white. Keep the list with the Onam plan alongside the food and the gifting notes. See journal corporate onam hampers and journal onam office celebration guide for workplace pookalams, and journal onam return gift ideas for what goes home with the guests.