The dying art of Ganjifa cards painting !

Every time I visit Bhau Daji lad Museum or Prince of Wales museum in Bombay, I am invariably drawn to the section where intricately painted Ganjifa cards are displayed! 

Card games have been popular all over the world since ancient times. Each country had its own cards, designed and styled that reflected its local art and culture.  In India, the artistic creations of Ganjifa were supported by erstwhile princely states that patronized the art and the artists. The etymology and origins of word "ganjifa" remain obscure. Some scholars believe it derives its name from the Persian word "Ganjifeh" which means playing cards. In India, these cards were known as "Kreeda Patra" (“kreeda” meaning game or sport and “patra” meaning leaf or page in Sanskrit). 

Traditionally, Gangifas are handmade, circular playing cards with miniature style of paintings on various materials like ivory enamelled in gold and silver, sandalwood, lac wafers, tortoise shell, mother of pearls, textile fabric, palm leaves and waste paper. Although there were some Ganjifa cards that were found in rectangle shape too. The cards are painted by natural dyes derived from rich minerals and vegetable dyes with wide range and saturations. The artists have to mix and grind these natural colours to get suitable outcome for his work and use squirrel hair brush for achieving finer lines and intricate techniques of the art form. The process of Ganjifa card making is very lengthy and needs immense patience and specialized skills. Each card is an intricate visual portrayal of a story narrated in specific colours and symbols from the place of its origin.  

The ancient game of Ganjifa is believed to be as old as human existence. The origin of cards is traced to Persia, China and Arabian countries. In India, the game of Ganjifa was introduced through Moghul Emperors/Sufi saints during Mughal period in sixteenth century. With the advent of handmade paper, the indoor game of Ganjifa that involved playing for stakes converted into a great recreational escape for the Mughal Badshas, nobles and aristocrats alike. 

As Ganjifa evolved with time becoming a brilliant exercise for brain, interesting entertainment tool and an awe-inspiring art and artefact, it gradually spread across different regions and reached common people on the street. After the game was established everywhere in its original form known as Mughal Ganjifa, many variations started emerging.

The first variation started with Hindu form of Ganjifa cards; ten suits of twelve cards each, known as Dashavatara Ganjifa. Soon, each region of the country innovated and developed its own style of Ganjifa keeping in mind specific cultural and stylistic art/craft practices of the place, adding immense cultural and social value and interesting perspectives to the game of Ganjifa cards. Some popular Ganjifa card styles prevalent till about a few decades back were known as Sawantwadi Ganjifa from Maharashtra, Navadurga Ganjifa from Orrisa, Rajasthan and Gujrat Ganjifa, Kashmir Ganjifa, Nepal Ganjifa and the Mysooru Ganjifa that enjoyed great patronage from the Wodeyars from Mysore Royal family during their reign. 

The colour and iconography changed with each province developing its own unique version of the game. The Moghul Ganjifa cards usually portrayed animals, birds, wrestlers, acrobats, swordsmen, soldiers, hunters, musicians. As it spread to other regions, the colour and iconography changed to devotional themes. The main aim of Ganjifa shifted from mere recreation to teach and tell the stories from the ancient scriptures and holy books that were thus far following only oral traditions. The expression also changed depending on variety of themes creating great range in novelty. Different styles were created for telling stories/meaning of shlokas from the Hindu Puranas, Ramayana, the chapters from Mahabharata and many more scriptures.

With changing times, like many old traditional art forms, the Ganjifa is dying out and is on the brink; both as old game and folk art/craft form. There are some traditional, national awardees and their artisan families from Mysore, Bishnupur and Orissa trying to revive this art. It is gratifying to see them making efforts but for the technology obsessed times like today very few have time, interest or inclination to explore this pure art. Hardly anybody knows how to play complex game of Ganjifa and since it takes time to learn the craft there aren't very many takers for this game that entails exorbitant cost. The popular, easy to play 52- cards deck from western countries has ensured Ganjifa is pushed to history forever! 

There are many Indian art forms that are on the verge of extinction as they are no more commercially viable due to complete lack of patronage. What we don't realize is that with each dying art form, we lose significantly important part of our cultural identity, a big piece of our heritage that defines who we are as country/people and our journey so far. We need to think deeply and ask ourselves can we afford this loss?

Reference:

Pageant of Indian art, Festival of India in Great Britain by Dr. 

Saryu Doshi, Marg Publications

http://ignac.nic.in/n1002701htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gajifa

http://www.gounesco.com