O for Odisha's Ganjapa

Odisha's Ganjapa is a gamifying tradition in the most artistic way. If you are lucky enough to witness this age-old Indian card game that uses hand-painted circular cards you might hear things like, ‘your Rama did this’ or ‘your Matsya lost’ and ‘my Narasimha won’.Ganjapa cards were the main form of playing cards in the Indian subcontinent until the British Raj influenced us with the modern-day four-suit card that we are familiar with.This was a game that was popular and played across mediaeval India. Each region in the country had its own form of cards and games; from the west (modern-day Maharashtra) to the east (modern-day West Bengal). In Odisha, it is widely known as Ganjapa.Ganjapa is popular in Puri and Ganjam, both districts in Odisha. These Ganjapa cards are painted with popular and intricate pattachitra artwork belonging to Odisha. The artwork has figures from local legends and representations from Ramayana and the ten avatars (Dashavatar) of Vishnu. The Brahmin community played the cards too and believed by saying the lord's name whilst playing a game of cards, would wash away sins.Ganjapa is played as ‘Charirangi’ (cards of four colours), ‘Atharangi’ (cards of eight colours), ‘Dasarangi’ (cards of ten colours), ‘Bararangi’ (cards of twelve colours), ‘Chaudarangi’ (cards of fourteen colours) and ‘Sohalarangi’ (cards of sixteen colours)..Odisha has the largest community of Ganjapa players and manufacturers. There are many types of Ganjifa / Ganjapa decks and according to regional customs changes and some of the detailed rules might also vary from region to region. The local variation of Ganjifa is called Ganjapa in Odisha.Ganjapa cards are made by applying vegetable starch and quicklime to sheets of waste cotton cloth or by dipping the sheets in a tamarind paste. These are then cut into circles, layered together and allowed to dry. After that, the stiff circular cards are coated with chalk powder and painted in the bright colours and distinctive style of Pattachitra, usually by women artists. This process can take ten days to complete, while the more expensive, engraved wood decks may take even longer.Like all crafts, Ganjapa cards are traditionally made from natural sources of colours. White came from powdered conch shells, green from leaves, black from lamp soot, red from a stone called hingulal, blue from a stone called khandneela, and yellow from a stone called hartal.Ganjapa cards take almost 30 days to make..Banamali Mohapatra, a national award artisan based out of Raghurajpur, Puri, Odisha barely manages to make a sale of Rs. 5000 per month. The remaining few artisans admit that the youngsters in the village are not interested in making them or playing with them because of their complex nature.This tangible heritage still exists due to the spirit of artisans like Mohapatra who don't seem to give up on the craft in spite of the various difficulties. It may be interesting to note that other places in India still manufacture these cards with slight variations in the name of the cards and style of painting on them. Some of them are Sawantwadi in Maharashtra, Nirmal in Andhra Pradesh, Mysore in Karnataka, and Bankuda in West Bengal.Today even though the recreational value of the craft is lost and is limited to handicraft and collection value, it is fascinating to note that though Indian itihas has not been officially documented they live on centuries later in fascinating formats in art and crafts like this.