Kavali

A traditional artform practiced by the Kansal people, Kavali is a word originally meaning "marking something for the purposes of memory", which refers to a ritualistic style of tattoo which is done to mark one's body following significant life events. Bamboo tattoos are drawn in rings rippling outward from the bellybutton, which is seen as the originator of life in the Kansal culture. The circular tattoos are made up of complex, precisely repeating geometric patterns with sharp lines and edges, and have meanings associated with them. Certain patterns commemorate the death of a loved one such as a parent, while others might relate to marriage, having children, or even one's own death. These tattoos are always given after such significant events in one's life as a way to immortalize and note the events, so that when one passes the story of their life is clearly visible on their body, emanating out from the point on their body at which their life is seen to have begun. There is ample room for individual variation within Kavali tattoos, such that everyone's story at the end of their life is visibly unique, although still identifiable and readable by others.