Author:
Publication: Hindustan Times
Date: January 18, 2008
Vikram Jaiswal was goggle-eyed when he discovered
that one of his favourite cyber games had roots way back in the 6th century
BCE (Before Common Era). The second-year commerce student was one of the 200-odd
visitors who came to know about the ancient games exhibit put up by St Xavier
College's department of the Ancient Indian Culture in the campus on Thursday.
For a change, he played Pallanguzhi - a board
game invented and largely played in South India, without using the mouse. "I
was thrilled to know that our ancestors grew us playing this game," said
Jaiswal.
The exhibit has attracted many to discover unknown
facts about the lighter side of ancient India, little known to most Indians.
The two-day exhibition closes on Friday.
Nikita Mahajan, an arts student from KC College,
lerant about the fact behind the longest snake on the Snakes-and-Ladders board
that had been her greatest impediment in winning in her childhood. She discovered
it when she saw the Vishnu version of the game, in which one has to conquer
the 84 human emotions to win the game.
The longest snake called Ego that sits on the
last square, which could take you all the way down to the second square, just
before reaching victory. The exhibit has several versions of the game such as
the Jain version, the Ganesha version promoting religion, and also the French
and English versions, in which the number of squares was increased to 100.
Other broad games covered in the exhibit were
Panchisi or Chaupar, which gained popularity after Shakuni, the uncle of Kauravas,
used it to defeat Yudhisthira in the epic Mahabharata, and Ganjifa, a card game
of the ancient times. Some outdoor games like Manipuri martial arts and hunting
were also featured.
"Our ancient games narrate a tales of intelligence,
which is a part of the culture. For instance, the way the Kauravas used the
game of Chaupar to defeat the Pandavas in Mahabharata.
The idea is the aware people about our culture,"
explained Anita Rane Kothare, head of Ancient India Culture, St Xaviers College.
