page_title: Chowk poorana
section_title: Floor art
hierarchical_section_title: Chowk poorana / Floor art
context_page_description: Chowk-poorana or chowkpurana is folk art practised in Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh. In Uttar Pradesh, the term chowk-poorana refers to decorating the floor with various designs using flour and rice and also the walls using designs specific to the region.
  Similarly, according to Aryan, the term chowk-poorana in Punjab refers to floor art and mud wall painting. This art is primarily practised by women and is a folk tradition. In Punjab, during festivals such as Holi, Karva Chauth and Diwali, walls and courtyards of rural houses are enhanced with drawings and paintings similar to rangoli in South India, mandana in Rajasthan, and rural arts in other parts of India. Chowk-poorana mud wall art in Punjab is given shape by the peasant women of the state. In courtyards, this art is drawn using a piece cloth. The art includes drawing tree motifs, flowers, ferns, creepers, plants, peacocks, palanquins, geometric patterns along with vertical, horizontal and oblique lines. These arts add to the festive atmosphere.
context_section_description: According to "A dictionary of the Panjabi language prepared of the Lodiana mission" in 1854, in Punjab, chowk-poorana refers to preparing the square on the floor with flour on weddings and dedications. In religious ceremonies,  symbols are drawn for worshipping.  Some of the symbols used in Hindu ceremonies include drawing planets and Om. This is similar to the floor art, chowk-poorana, in Uttar Pradesh where pots are placed in the middle and the art is drawn around them in religious ceremonies.
   In Uttar Pradesh, the alternative name is Sona Rakhna.
  In the Punjab, the chowk square is drawn on the floor with flour and turmeric. Sometimes a swastika is also drawn in the square. Such drawings are made before weddings or when the mother of a new born child goes outdoors for the first time. Other festive occasions include the bringing of horses/cows home for the first time. Modern squares are more colourful and use rice. 
  Aryan (1983) in his study of Punjab folk art writes that the floral and geometrical designs are drawn on mud walls and in courtyards using "powdered colours or earth colours such as white, ultrarine Heel and Indian red Gerua". The patterns are created using a piece of rag. The patterns tend to be simple as compared to the intricate designs of mandana  paintings in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Bedi (2001) describes a chowk depicting the planets. However, such a chowk forms part of religious ceremonies and is worshiped. 
  Floor art of the western Himalaya region, comprising Jammu, parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, is called likhnoo or dehar but it is also called chowk which has its own style of designs. In the lower ridges of Jammu and Himachal Pradesh,  which Jerath (1971) called the Dogra region, floor art is termed chowka  poorna.
caption: Geometrical chowk used in Punjab traditionally designed using flour and turmeric
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