12 9 2
The first picture looks like a board for what is known in Bengal as the indoor game of ‘capturing the tiger’. Sometimes it is also called the ‘Mogul-Pathan’ game. The chesslike game is still popular in villages but not in the cities. It is one of the dying indigenous pastimes. There are quite a few others, both outdoor and indoor. Only Kabadi has got international recognition.
Best
DB
 

From: Jean-Michel Delire <jmdelire@ULB.AC.BE>
To: INDOLOGY@liverpool.ac.uk
Sent: Sunday, 2 September 2012 2:49 PM
Subject: [INDOLOGY] Games

Dear Colleagues,

I am looking for some information about the two following questions :
1) Does anyone know the origin of the Indonesian game Surakarta, beyond the evident fact that its name is related to the name of the city Surakarta ?
2) When visiting Buddhist caves, one often finds peculiar drawings such as shown by the attached picture (attachment 3), from Nasik. Could it be the board of a game and is there any litterature about the games played by the Buddhist monks ?

Thank you for your answer(s),

Regards,

Dr J.M.Delire, University of Brussels