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
