Pallankuzhi

From Wikimanqala

Pallankuzhi (also pallam kuzhi, pallangulli, pallankuli) is according to Murray, Bell, Russ, Romariz Santos Silva, and de Voogt a particular game played by Tamils in Southern India and Sri Lanka.

The word "pallankuzhi" is also used in Tamil as a generic name for mancala games that are mostly played by Tamil women in South India and northern Sri Lanka.

Pal means in Tamil "many" and kuzhi means "pit" and could literally be translated as many pits, a fitting description of the mancala boards used to play mancala games.

1 Pallankuzhi song
2 References
3 Personal references
4 External links

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Pallankuzhi song

A Kriti

O Ruler of Ayodhya, of the inestimable form! 
I have the desire to listen 
To my hearts fill and my ears delight, your sweet speech 
That you and Sita and spoke with true love and understanding, 
Gazing at each other, when you played a game of Pallanguzhi 
With her and won, which was heard by Bharata and Hanuman.

Note: In this kriti (Hindu devotional music popular in southern India) Rama wins in the woman's domain and so demonstrates his (male) power.

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References

Balambal Ramaswami, V.: (2002) 'Pallankuzhi, a traditional board game of women in Tamilnadu', in Step by Step. Proceedings of the 4th Colloquium Board Games in Academia, Edited by J. Retschitzki and R. Haddad-Zubel, Fribourg. -- Also published in Kala : The Journal of Indian Art History Congress, New Delhi, 2000-2001; 7.

Balambal Ramaswami, V.: (2006) Folk Tales Games of Tamilnadu, Chennai: The C. P. Ramaswami Foundation Aiyar.

Bell, R. C.: (1960) Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, Oxord: Oxford University Press.

Murray, H. J. R.: (1951) A History of Board-Games other than Chess, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Romariz Santos Silva, E.: (1995) Jogos de Quadrícula do Tipo Mancala com especial Incidência nos Praticados em Angola, Lisbon: Instituto de Investigacao Cientifíca Tropical.

Voogt, A. J. de.: (2000) 'Mancala Boards (Olinda Keliya) in the National Museums of Colombo', in Board Game Studies; 3: 90-99.

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Personal references

Bautista i Roca, V.: Personal communication with V. Balambal Ramaswami during the 4th Colloquium Board Games in Academia, Fribourg (Switzerland) 2001.

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