Expo of board games in craft forms begins in Mysuru

The eleventh edition of Ramsons Kreedaa Kaushalya has commenced in Mysuru with many interesting game boards and play-counters created in India’s diverse craft forms.

This edition of the game expo will see the introduction of a new race game, Patra Gattam. The simple single track game is played by two persons with seven counters for each player, is a typical race game. The well-known Lambani embroidery craft form has been used to create the cloth game boards with wooden counters from Channapatna.

In the past, many Indian cities associated with princely states produced fine chess sets and boards made of rare materials like ivory, ebony, sandalwood, rosewood, gold, and silver. Notable places associated with such products were Vizianagaram, Surat, Murshidabad, Mysore, Travancore, etc. However, post Independence, these cities are no longer centres of production. The focus has shifted to smaller cities like Saharanpur, Aligarh, Amritsar, and the popular tourist centres of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Agra, and Varanasi, where thirty-two-piece chess sets are manufactured in a variety of materials like silver-teakwood, mahogany, brass, copper, and enamelled brass, Ramsons Kala Prathistana in a press release.

The entire range of boardgames in a variety of craft forms like silk weaving, silk embroidery, hand-woven cotton wall hangings, batik, kalamkari, inlay, chowkies, etc., feature games such as Chaukabara, Adu Huli, Aligulimane, Chaduranga, Navakankari, Hasu Chiratay, Anay Kattu, Paramapada, Nau Keti Keta, Panchi, Pretwa, Pancha Keliya, Vimana, Daadu, Patra Gattam, Singam, Basavana Ata, Sixteen Sepoys, Dash Guti, Egara Guti, Shara Vyooha, Ashtapada, Taabla, Seetadevi Ata and many more are on display.

On this occasion, the revised edition titled ‘Indian Traditional Boardgames: A Guide to the Art of Play’ was released in an enlarged version with three new articles from games researchers. Dr. Souvik Mukherji, Associate Professor in Cultural Studies, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata, scholar and contributing editor of Prekshaa Publications, Bengaluru, Arjun Bharadwaj, and Dr. Jacob Schmidt-Madsen, PhD scholar, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Germany, have contributed articles to the book, the release added.

The expo was inaugurated on Friday and is open to visitors from April 4 to May 31 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Ramsons Bombe Mane, Nazarbad Main Road. Call 9880111625 for details.