The Lotus Pond is a circular race game in which two or four persons can play.
This product is a result of the ME to WE project, an initiative by A Hundred Hands, an NGO that encourages craftspeople across crafts, media and geographies to collaborate on design and innovation. The game is thus a fusion of two crafts, the lightweight, wooden pawns handcrafted by our artisans from channapatna and the beautiful mats, custom-embroidered by Porgai, a producer group of Lambadi women from Sitlingi, Tamil Nadu. This games comes with a lovely custom-made owl handblock-printed potli (a cloth bag), the embrodiered mat, a pair of dice, an instruction leaflet and 4 wooden pawns.
Board games have existed in India since centuries. Many games like Chess, Pachisi (ludo) and Snakes and Ladders find their origin in India. Indian mythology is abound with references to board games. In fact, it was a board game that lead to the war betweeen the Pandavas and the Kauravas in the Mahabharata. One also finds references to board games in sacred scriptures like the Skanda Purana and the Rig Veda. In fact, you would often find board games etched in the stone slabs in several ancient temples.
Benefits of playing Board Games
Board games help bring family and friends together. They improve memory, arithmetic and analytical skills. Playing board games drastically reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia. They keep you mentally and physically active.
About the game
The game pattern consists of five concentric circles, the blue ripples of the lotus pond. These are intersected by four orthogonal lines. Four inverted triangles at the four corners form the four symmetrical extensions of the pattern. This design in fact resembles the Chakra (discus) of Sri Vishnu. The half bloomed lotuses at the four corners are the starting points or the home-points for the players. Each player, with a throw of dice, can move along the blue ripples of the pond. The objective is to move along the green lotus buds and the blue ripples to reach the beautiful full-bloomed lotus at the centre of the pond. The first player to do so wins the game.
If a player’s pawn lands on a point occupied by an opponent’s pawn, then the opponent’s counter is captured and the player gets an extra turn to play. The captured pawn returns to its home –point and must start all over again. Please note that a player must capture atleast one opponent counter to enter the inner circle. If not he/she has to keep moving in the outer circle itself.
Recommended age : 4 years +
CARE INSTRUCTIONS
All lacware products must be kept in shaded areas and must avoid direct exposure to sun. Avoid blows against hard surfaces. Please do not wash them with water. Wood can react variedly to atmospheric changes which is beyond our control. Please dry clean the mat or wash the same lightly in cold water.