Playing cards of yore

IN the 16th Century in Orissa, circular cards with exquisite paintings on them - an art called Ganjapa - were very popular among the people of Ganjam; they were used to play ordinary card games.

Ganjapa, also called "Ganjifa" is derived from a Persian word "Gajife". The earliest mention of Ganjapa is in 1527 A.D. in the memoirs of Emperor Babur.

Ganjapa cards differed in size and style and from place to place. For instance, those in Raghurajpur (Puri) and Ganjam are three inches in diameter while in Sonepur district they are smaller.

The cards are arranged in sets in packs of different numbers such as 46, 96, 120, 144 and so on. Each pack has sets of 12 cards, with each set being a different colour.

Based on the number of colours in a set, the packs are called atharangi (eight colours), dasarangi (10 colours), bararangi (12 colours), chaudarangi (14 colours) and sholarangi (16 colours). A maximum of 24 colours are used. Of these, the atharangi is the most common.

The themes used vary from common decorations to figurative representations of the Ramayana, the 10 incarnations of Vishnu, and gods and goddesses of Hindu mythology. They vary from region to region and are in Odissi style.

There are eight suits in a pack of cards, each one recognisable by a distinct background colour. Each suit has 10 numbered cards and a king and vizier. The king is the highest in value with the vizier coming next, followed by the series in descending order. The king is distinguished as either sitting, or with legs folded at the knees, while the vizier is depicted standing. Sometimes, the king is on a chariot and the minister mounted on a horse. In some other sets, the king is recognised by his two heads, while the minister is shown with one head. Somewhere on the card is another head of an animal.

Eka, Douka, Teeka, Chouka, Pancha, Chhaka or Atha are the numbers of the cards. The horse, rat, Ganesha, Kartika, lotus or fish are the figures generally used.

Exotic Ganjapa cards were popular while luxury cards engraved on plates of wood were exclusive.

Making a Ganjapa card is an art that resembles pata chitra. A piece of cloth is dipped several times in a glue made of tamarind seeds and then dried to make it crisp. Circles are cut out of the cloth with a hollow iron cylinder. Two such circles of cloth, or a circle each of cloth and paper are pasted together. Finally a paste of chalk powder is applied. After this has dried, paints made from lac dye are used to make a base for painting. Cards are hand-printed.

The cards are mainly done by the women folk of artisan families. They prepare the cloth sheets, tamarind glue and traditional colour and lacquer paste at home. Male artists paint figures on the cards.

Colours are used to distinguish the figures. For instance, in the Dasavatara series, blue is used to depict Vishnu avatara (the incarnation of Vishnu). Green personifies Rama, with red as a background colour. In Matsya avatara, white is used for the figure (fish) with black as a background colour. Kuchha avatara is shown in green, with background yellow as a contrast colour.

These cards do not require fine artistic endeavours, but take a long time to prepare. A set of Ganjapa cards takes at least 10 days to make.

Today, the tradition of making Ganjapa cards is on the verge of extinction.

Ganjapa cards are also expensive, costing between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 1,200 per set. Sometimes tourists buy the cards for decorative purposes or as glass covers.

Will future generations stare and wonder at the beautiful hand- painted circular playing cards with no one to explain the game to them?

MONALISA JENA

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Oslo's untold story
Next     : Who are you calling Asian?