Cobras and ladders... when it was a religious quest and not a kids’ game
WITH its exotic animals, cobras, and Hindu gods it could easily be mistaken for a religious painting. But this is an exquisite example of Indian snakes and ladders.
Produced in 1800, the board game is now set to delight art lovers after it was converted into a high quality computer image and uploaded to an online library. Mounted on cloth and finely drawn by an artist from the western state of Maharashtra, the board was divided into 124 numbered squares. In this version of the wellknown game, players embarked on a religious quest with the first squares representing ‘the hells’ and the top of the board representing ‘supreme Brahman’ status – pure being.
Snakes and ladders originated in India in the 13th century and became popular here at the time of the Raj. This board is one of two held by The Royal Asiatic Society in London.