Goddess Lakshmi and the Game of Pallanguzhi- Blog 8 of 10

This Golu doll of Lakshmi is quite old and definitely needs a little touch up. But nothing can mask the serenity on the face. When I was young, I used to wonder about the worship of Lakshmi – the Goddess of Prosperity. It sounded odd to me aa a child that one could pray for prosperity. I thought Gods were supposed to be associated only with higher ideals and not every day human lives.

But as I grew older and more mature, I read more and understood more. In Hinduism, the concept of purusartha or the object of human pursuit refers to the four aims of human life—dharma, artha, kama and moksha [righteousness, prosperity, pleasure and liberation]. While all of them are considered important, dharma gets precedence and directly leads to moksha. It is interesting to note the sheer practicality of Hindu philosophy: it gives space to both prosperity and pleasure, which form a large part of our life. Rather than frowning upon this, it accepts the two, rooting them all in dharma. I am no expert, but I found this truly fascinating. Perhaps this is why our festivals, too, are a fusion of rituals and merrymaking.

Talking of merrymaking inevitably leads to games and the game I most associate with the Goddess of Prosperity is pallanguzhi. A two-player game with seven pits on each side, numerous family heirlooms of beautiful, intricately carved and embellished boards have kept the game alive in the minds of the people. But boards could be and perhaps originally were simply just be pits in the sand made by the heel of our hand.

The game begins with a certain number of game pieces in each pit. It involves picking them up and distributing them across the pits by following a set of rules. At the end of each turn a player gets to collect some game pieces as his own. The player with the most treasure at the end is the winner.

There are numerous versions of the game. Some allow players to collect bonus treasure while the game is in play. Others allow the player to reserve some pits and create a little savings as it were that can be collected at the end of the game. Yet another version reserves one pit on each side like a bank where treasure can accumulate for that player. In short, the game is a mathematical exercise in managing, distributing and accumulating assets.

Prosperity means different things to different people. Our prayers to Goddess Lakshmi are to keep us free from want, so we have what we need to survive in the world. But we need to work for it. Prayers alone won’t win a game of pallanguzhi. Nor will it ensure prosperity. Both need our efforts