-
Chaupar, Pataleshwar (1) This etched or incised graffiti board of Chaupar is located right at the entrance of the cave temple of Pataleshwar. The chaupar board here has arms of 27 cms each with a floral design in the middle square or the central home square.
Pataleshwar cave complex are a small group of five excavations, developed into a cave temple dedicated to Pataleshwar, God of the underworld or Shiva. This cave complex is ruggedly excavated and also bears resemblance with the Elephanta caves of Mumbai. The cave has unfinished murals on the sides and on the backside. There is a Nandi pavilion at the entrance of the cave which is circular. The inside of the main cave contains a pillared hall with a pradakshinapatha the way to go around the shrine. One side of the cave remains unfinished. This and other boardgames were documented on the floor of the cave.
According to anthropologists K. Ravi and Jaya Sankar Rao and the classification of HJR Murray in his book, The History of Boardgames Other Than Chess, Chaupar is categorised as a race game. The first description of this game seems to have been written in the 16th century, when chaupar was a common gambling sport at the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar in Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. Abul Fazl describes how the game is played with sixteen pieces, three dice, and a “board” in the shape of a cross. It is typically a four-player game and the pieces belonging to each player is distinct from the others. It is played with four pieces and a throwing of either cowrie shells or two oblong dice. There are various terminologies used for the safe squares, or the throws which differs from one region to the other. For example, in Haryana the central home which is a flower here is called 'charon ka ghar'. Interestingly, it can be played by a throw of six cowrie shells or even more depending on the variant. As this etched board is from Maharashtra, it is difficult to understand the exact throw of dice or cowries used or the rules made to play this game.
-
Tablan, Pataleshwar Tablan is a traditional Indian board game for two players, similar to Backgammon and Tâb, where the goal is to occupy more of your opponent's home squares than they do yours. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Here's a more detailed breakdown: [1, 4, 5]
Origin & History: Tablan is an ancient game originating in India, particularly in some villages in Mysore, southwestern India. [1, 4, 5] It could have originated from the Roman games Duodecima Scripta.
This etched boardgame has been documented from Pataleshwar Cave in Pune.
Pataleshwar caves are a small group of five excavations, developed into a cave temple dedicated to Pataleshwar, God of the underworld or Shiva. This cave complex is ruggedly excavated and also bears resemblance with the elephanta caves of Mumbai. The cave has unfinished murals on the sides and onthe backside. There is a Nandi pavilion at the entrace of the cave which is circular. The inside of the main cave contains a pillared hall with a pradakshinapatha the way to go around the shrine. One side of the cave remains unfinished. This and other boardgames were documted on the floor of the cave etched or excavated. This is a complete graffiti board situated on the last row of the right hand side of the cave facing the Linga.
-
Nine Men's Morris Kailash Temple, Ellora (2) Believed to be one of the oldest games in history, Nine Men's Morris is an alignment and configuration game that is found widely around the world. "Morris" comes from the Latin word "merellus", which means the corruption of pieces. The earliest known etching of Nine Men's Morris was found in an Egyptian temple in Kurna, Egypt (c.a 1440 BC). Other boards have been discovered in Ceylon of Sri Lanka (c. AD 10) and in the Gokstad Viking ship (c. AD 900). Evidence of the board scratched in the ground in the United States. To the ancient Celts, the Morris square was sacred. The central square known as the Cauldron or Mill was a symbol of regeneration while the lines and squares coming out from the middle were symbols of the four directions. Shakespeare mentions the game in his A Midsummer's Nights Dream. In India, many graffiti boards are to be found in temples and Buddhist caves.
This is one such example of a graffiti board found in Kailash temple Ellora. The construction of the Kailash temple roughly dates back to the reign of Krishna I (r.756 – 774 CE) of the Rashtrakuta dynasty according to the Vadodara copper plate inscription. This copper inscription records and mentions Krishna I as the patron of the Kailashnatha temple and also mentions a shiva temple at Elapura or Ellora present day.
-
Graffiti Boardgame Tablan in Kailash Temple Ellora Tablan is a traditional Indian board game for two players, similar to Backgammon and Tâb, where the goal is to occupy more of your opponent's home squares than they do yours. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Here's a more detailed breakdown: [1, 4, 5]
Origin & History: Tablan is an ancient Hindustani game originating in India, particularly in some villages in Mysore, southwestern India. [1, 4, 5] It could have originated from the Roman games Duodecima Scripta
This gameboard has been found in Cave 16 of Ellora also known as the Kailash temple.
-
Bagh Chal, Bull Temple (2) This incised or etched Bagh Chal board has been documented from Basavanagudi Bull temple in Bangalore, from one of the temple porches. Bagh Chal or Tigers and Goats is an ancient hunt game that has been popular in many regions of the world. The board of Bagh Chal is part of the alquerque family which traces its history to the Moors of Spain in their Libro de Los juegos (book of games) commissioned by Alfonso X in the 13th century. Although the rules were first found there, the history of alquerque goes further back to Egypt and to a name mentioned in the Kitab-al-Aghani (book of songs) as Kirkat or Al-Kirkat. Besides reference in literature similar game boards have been found both in practice amongst players in various communities as well as in archaeological sites. Bagh Chal has many variants, and is known by different names all over India, Nepal, Bhutan and other countries of South Asia. The structure of the board, the number of pieces and the variants in the rules may vary from place to place but the intention of winning remains the same. It is a two-player game where one individual represents the tiger and the other represents the goats. The number of tigers vary from one to even five in some games while the number of goats can be twenty or less or more depending on the structure of the board and the rules popular to the region.
The Basavanagudi Bull temple is a popular pilgrim location and is famous for largest stone carving of Nandi, the vahana (vehicle) of Lord Shiva. This temple was built by Kempe Gowda who was also known as the founder of Bangalore. The temple also has a lot of local folklore about villagers worshipping the bull. Hence from the time of its origin to present day, it is frequented by tourists, pilgrims and local people of the region. This graffiti board lies on the right side of the porch. The temple is built in Vijaynagara style with the Nandi idol in the centre and porches on both sides.
-
Playing Sawantwadi Ganjifa A detailed video on the rules of playing Dashavatar ganjifa cards. Sawantwadi, a town on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, is famous for its ganjifa cards, a tradition maintained by the Sawantwadi Royal Family. This video shows a simple step-by-step guide to playing what is otherwise considered a complicated game with ten suits (after the ten avatars of Vishnu) and 120 cards. Currently, the royal family supports workshops on playing ganjifa cards and also has a number of craftsmen who make the elaborate sets of ganjifa cards of a range of designs. Rani Satvashiladevi Bhonsle has been one of the prime movers in restoring the tradition, which is now being carried forward by Shraddha Lakham Sawant Bhonsle and others in the royal family.
-
Mancala, Karla (1) The game of Mancala is considered to be one of the oldest games of the world, while its place of origin and the timeline is debatable. The earliest textual reference as stated by scholars comes from Kitab al-Aghani, or Book of Songs which does not directly mention mancala but refers to a similar game. These rows of cupules have been excavated in ancient sites like Jordan and many others including megalithic sites in India but their link as to being Mancala is debatable. This game has many variants all across the world and is popular in Africa, Asia, and parts of Eastern Europe. In India, Mancala is known by many names and the rules and variants of the game keep changing based on its region and according to the communities who play them. The number of holes in mancala differ along with the number of rows as well. In some variants the board is hand-drawn on a surface as circles with chalk or even cut holes on the soil to play the game. It is played with local seeds, stones or anything which is easily available as pieces to place inside the pits. The number of pieces per pit also vary from four to even twelve in some variants. This game is popularly a two-player game but some variants also show three players or even one in some case.
This mancala board is engraved on the floor of the main chaitya griha or cave number 8 in Karla. As the image shows, is a two-row mancala with 7 holes consisting both sides. There are also two depressions on the two extreme left and right side of the carving which could be the space to keep the winning seeds. The graffiti measures to 36cm and the diameter of each hole is 3cm approximately. This Graffiti board lies on the left side of the Stupa.
The Karla cave complex in Maharashtra is one of many rock-cut early Buddhist caves stretching from a time period of roughly 2nd century BCE. Karla is prominent and popular for its Grand Chaitya, which is considered to be one of the largest and best-preserved chaitya halls of that period consisting fine sculptures in its pillared panels. There are also many inscriptions in Karle denoting the various grants to construct the cave complex. There is a total of three mancalas right at the chaitya hall on the floor. While there are abundant etched evidence of mancala spread all across Maharashtra, it has been stated by scholars and board game researchers that more recent memory of the existence of this game is absent from the region. Thus, the practice of playing the game or the regional variant belonging from this region is either lost or yet to be found.
-
Bagh Chal, Bull Temple (1) This incised or etched Bagh Chal board has been documented from Basavanagudi Bull temple in Bangalore, from one of the temple porches. Bagh Chal or Tigers and Goats is an ancient hunt game that has been popular in many regions of the world. The board of Bagh Chal is part of the alquerque family which traces its history to the Moors of Spain in their Libro de Los juegos (book of games) commissioned by Alfonso X in the 13th century. Although the rules were first found there, the history of alquerque goes further back to Egypt and to a name mentioned in the Kitab-al-Aghani (book of songs) as Kirkat or Al-Kirkat. Besides reference in literature similar game boards have been found both in practice amongst players in various communities as well as in archaeological sites. Bagh Chal has many variants, and is known by different names all over India, Nepal, Bhutan and other countries of South Asia. The structure of the board, the number of pieces and the variants in the rules may vary from place to place but the intention of winning remains the same. It is a two-player game where one individual represents the tiger and the other represents the goats. The number of tigers vary from one to even five in some games while the number of goats can be twenty or less or more depending on the structure of the board and the rules popular to the region.
The Basavanagudi Bull temple is a popular pilgrim location and is famous for largest stone carving of Nandi, the vahana (vehicle) of Lord Shiva. This temple was built by Kempe Gowda who was also known as the founder of Bangalore. The temple also has a lot of local folklore about villagers worshipping the bull. Hence from the time of its origin to present day, it is frequented by tourists, pilgrims and local people of the region. This graffiti board lies on the left side of the porch. The temple is built in Vijaynagara style with the Nandi idol in the centre and porches on both sides.
