Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz bring 'parchis' to Paris Olympics: What is it?

The Spanish Raamesh Gowri Raghavan says are obsessed with Parchiacutes It is no surprise then that in the recent viral photo from the Olympic Village in Paris tennis champions Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz were seen engrossed in the board game But if one were to turn back the clock they would find themselves in the pages of the 7th century AD scripture Skanda Purana where Lord Shiva invents the game and challenges his wife Parvati to a round of Pachisi only to lose all his possessions to her including NandiRafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz play Parchiacutes PIC COURTESY X FORMERLY TWITTERldquoParchiacutes is a popular game in Spain but reached them via the Arab rulers during the Medieval Age The Arabs called the game lsquoBarjisrsquo which was picked up from the popular Indian game Pachisi by the migrating Muslim tradersrdquo shares Raghavan The director of INSTUCEN Trust School of Languages and Literature has no doubt that the game was invented in India ldquoThere are many mythological stories that make references to Pachisirdquo he explains adding that the popular game Ludo too is a simplified version of the game ldquoMughal emperor Akbar loved to play this game In fact you can still find a lifesize board built in Fatehpur Sikri where Akbar would play the game with humans instead of pawnsrdquo he reveals With time Indians shifted to Ludo but Pachisi continues to thrive in its original form known by different names across continents In America too they have a version called Parcheesi They adapted it from the Latin Americans ldquoIt is a shame that we are losing touch with our culture and increasingly playing the British game Ludo insteadrdquo he suggestsSidhant Chand and Raamesh RaghavanLead game designer and founder of Zenwood Games Sidhant Chand admits that the game is not particularly preferred by the rapidly multiplying board gaming communities in urban India ldquoPachisi has been popular since time immemorial in India It used to be played by kings and commoners While Ludo has taken over in towns and cities one can still find people playing Pachisi in rural India But it hasnrsquot been popularised yet in the modern agerdquo he says adding that he finds the cultural connection between the design of the board game and the country particularly exciting ldquoWhile Ludo uses dice Pachisi is played with cowrie shells There are places in Odisha where cowries were used as currency Thatrsquos also possibly where the phrase ldquodo cowrie ka insaanrdquo comes fromrdquo he suggests ldquoAnother interesting difference is that one can move up to six spaces in Ludo But it can go all the way up to 25 in Pachisi mdash often rare but thatrsquos how researchers claim it got its namerdquoSophie Joharirsquos grandmotherrsquos over 100yearold board gameThe major differences between Ludo and Pachisi are in the arms ldquoPachisi has longer arms and takes a while to complete It is more complicated and begins from the centre unlike Ludo where you start from the four cornersrdquo Raghavan informs The archaeologist writes off the claim that this was also the game played in The Mahabharata ldquoThe game referred to in Mahabharata is Dyut which means gambling in Sanskrit So it could be any game of gambling This game he adds is commonly played across cultures of India It is also called chaupar among countless other names and hundreds of variations that change with family rules ldquoIt is popular during Diwali Mahashivratri and Ramadanrdquo he addsHandwoven treasuresGrant Roadbased Sophie Johari from the Dawoodi Bohra community sells handwoven chaupar along with many other cultural Indian games ldquoI have crafted a handful of these games I began in 2017 when I created a handwoven board game called Dadu After a Facebook post I got 1520 orders the very next dayrdquo she recallsOne such order was placed for Chaupar For this Johari dug into her late grandmotherrsquos belongings and discovered a handmade Chaupar ldquoIt is the most precious piece of family heritage I own Each time I am asked to weave a Chaupar board I refer to this over 100yearold piecerdquo she beamsLog on to Sophie Johari on Facebook to place orderAlso check outAPPSgtgt Pachisi multiplayerLog on to App Storegtgt Parchisi STARLog on to Play StoreBuy the gamegtgt ChausarLudo Etched on palm leaf shells tied with threads for pawns made by Odisharsquos Pattachitra artisansLog on to zolaindiacomgtgt DhayamPachisi Brass dice Kondapalli bird pawns with a handpainted boardEmail kritihandmadegmailcom for enquiriesgtgt Pachisi Handpainted Kalamkari board Log on togoodoldgames_vintagecrafts gtgt Chopad pasa game Foldable box gameLog on to royalindianart