Rangoli materials

[aklujkar at unixg.ubc.ca]

This inquiry is especially directed to those among you who are interested
in Indian arts or who have friends and colleagues specializing  in Indian
arts.

In my last trip to India, I made the acquaintance of a very gifted artist,
Mr. R.R. Chaunde (= Chau.n.de) from Pune, who specializes in large-scale
floor drawings known as ra.ngaavalii, ra.ngolii or alpanaa and who seemed
to be one of the few individuals knowledgeable about the symbolism and
ritual of that art form. Mr. Chaunde has won recognition to the extent of
being invited by the Government of India to display his art in Delhi. He
told me that there was a strong possibility of his being invited to North
America. His problem is the weight of the principal material he needs for
his art. He normally uses marble dust or fine marble powder (colored
variously). It is very heavy. The amount he needs to decorate the whole
floor of a room or hallway, which is what he normally does,can be carried 
from place to place only with difficulty and probably with considerable
expense.  If he must, he can use sand locally ground to fineness as a
substitute.  However, before he does that, he would like to know if
sufficiently large quantities of marble dust are sold anywhere in North
America. I shall forward to him any helpful  information you can convey in
this regard (location, names of dealers, prices etc.). Thanks. 

Ashok Aklujkar, Professor, Department of Asian Studies, University of B.C.,
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z2. Tel: O: (604) 822-5185, R: (604) 274-5353.
 Fax O:
822-8937. E-mail: aklujkar at unixg.ubc.ca