[Photo Sparks] Lights, rangoli, action: a Happy Diwali to all our readers from YourStory!

PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In this photo essay, we bring you the dazzling designs and creative combinations of rangoli during the Diwali festival. Make YourStory’s PhotoSparks your regular source of photos to inspire you to greater creative heights!

In the earlier 70 posts, we brought you a wide range of creative photographs from an art fair, world music festival, painting fair, telecom expo, art museum, mobile showcase, math museum, social hackathon, bookstore, co-working space, sensorium, international design week, flower show, outdoor ads, startup roadshow, computer museum, startup T-shirts, business cards, art therapy, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, Vesak, jazz festival, modern art gallery, ecopreneurs, painter-poets, health activists, eNGOs and digital innovators.

Diwali is back with a bang (literally), though a bit subdued this year due to calls for reduced air pollution, noise, accidents and inconvenience to pets. The creative exuberance of rangoli and other floor designs with lamps, petals and other objects continues unabated, as showcased in this edition of PhotoSparks as well as the earlier Diwali 2014 edition. See also YourStory’s photo essays on creativity and design during Ganesh Chaturthi, Onam, Vesak (Colombo) and Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival (Singapore).

From painstaking traditional designs to stick-on and stencil-in patterns, rangoli continues to evolve, evoke and excite. Hobbyists, devotees, instructors and even professionals are now involved, and a number of rangoli competitions and awards functions are being held (including in countries like Singapore: see the SingaRangoli site). In Jabalpur, the Inner Wheel Club is reportedly trying to set a world record for the largest rangoli, as part of an attempt to increase awareness about female foeticide.

In different ways, the creative spark burns brightly in artists, designers, writers, musicians, poets and performers – as well as activists, techies and entrepreneurs. YourStory celebrates the spirit of creativity and innovation, and wishes all its readers a happy, healthy and prosperous Diwali!

Got a creative photograph to share? Email us at [email protected]!

See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.