~ Indian Traditional Games ~

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Indoor

Poo Parikka Varugirom

Poo parikka varugirom is an interesting traditional game played in villages by singing a song which is in question and answer form. This game develops Physique, singing, knowing flowers, counting, questioning and answering skill.

How to Play

For the game to be interesting more the 5 to 10 players are required. The play area will be an open ground, street or a hall, the size of the play area depends upon the number of players playing.

Two groups of equal players are formed and a line is drawn in the centre and the players stand at a distance of 5 feet from the line

All the players hold their hands like a chain and sing the below song and go to the centre line touch it and come back to their place

Team 1: Poo Parikka Varugirom, Poo Parikka Varugirom, inn nallilae
                Team 2: Yaarai anuppa poogireer, Yaarai anuppa poogireer, inn nallilae
                Team 1: Rani (Name of a player) Anuppa Poogirom, Rani Anuppa Poogirom, inn nallilae
                Team 2: Yentha Poo Vendum, Yentha Poo Vendum, inn nallilae
                Team 1: Mallipoo Vendum (Name of a flower),  Mallipoo Vendum, inn nallilae

Once the Team 1 replies with the flower name, each person from one team will come to the centre line and pull each other, the player who crosses the line while pulling will go to the opposite team.

The game continues with different player name and flower name till everyone gets tired, the team with maximum number of players at the end of the game is the winner of the game.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Indoor

Pappu kanji (பப்பு கஞ்சி)

Pappu kanji is a famous traditional game played by parents with their kids under 3 yrs. By playing this game the children learns the importance of sharing, identify various food items cooked at home, and helps in identifying the relationship among people in the family and builds patience in them.

How to play

The parent or an elder taking care of the kid stretches the kid’s fingers, describes the food items one by one, and assign it to each finger virtually.

Once all the fingers are assigned with one food item, the person take the kids palm and pretend it as a plate and take the assigned food items from the fingers and mix them all in the palm. Then he should pretend as if he takes some food from the kids hand and feed him, then person should distribute it to others in the family by mentioning their names and the  relationship (like father, mother, sister, etc.) with the kid. All the actions are done virtually.

Once the food is distributed to others the parent pretends that he/she washes the vessel (i.e.) the kids palm and move his finger starting from the fingers of the kid to the shoulders singing “nandu oruthu nari oruthu” repeatedly and tickle the kid when he/she reach the shoulder, this amuse the kid and the kid starts laughing.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Indoor

Aakku paakku vethala paakku (ஆக்கு பாக்கு வெத்தல பாக்கு)

Aakku paaku vethala paaku is the traditional rural game played by kids between 3 to 5 years. This game builds patience among the kids and teaches them the counting and pointing skills.

How to play

All the kids sit in a circle, keep their hands on the ground (palm facing the ground), and stretch their fingers.

A kid from the group starts the game by singing
                  aakku paaku vethala paakku
                  thaam thoom koyya
                  asaka lakadi buska lakadi
                  balasundaram enperu koya
While singing one of his hand will be in the ground and the other hand will be used to point and count the hands of other players. For each word in the song one hand is counted for example while saying aakku one hand is counted. The count will go in clockwise direction.

The player has to close his finger if the song ends in his hand. Then the player again starts singing and counting

If the hand with closed finger is pointed for the second time then that kid’s hand should not be counted again (i.e. that hand should be taken out from the circle)

The game is continued until the number of hands is reduced to single.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Indoor

Kulai kulaiyaai mundirikkai

Kulai kulaiyaai mundirikkai is a famous game still played in villages and in schools. This game teaches the kids how to be cautious from the cheaters and how to do something without getting noticed by others. In this game players need to be cautious and know the tricks to cheat others without getting noticed.

Requirements

More Number of Players more the fun

Play area mainly depends upon the number of Players

A towel strongly rolled like a rope

How to Play ?

All the players need to sit in a circle inwards seeing each other.

One player is  chosen to be the ‘out’ person. The ‘out’ person is selected by any choosy method.

The ‘out’ person should take the rolled towel and run around the circle formed by the players.

The ‘out’ person while running should put the towel at the back of anyone player sitting in the circle in such a way that the players sitting in the circle does not notice it and continue running. If the player sitting notices the towel is behind him he can take it and should chase the ‘out’ person and try to touch the ‘out’ person before he sits in the empty place of the player who is chasing. If he touches the ‘out’ person then he will be the ‘out’ person for the second round, if in case he sits then the player who is chasing with the towel will be the ‘out’ person and he should continue playing as in the first round.

If the player sitting in the circle doesn’t know that the towel is behind him the ‘out’ player running should come and pick the towel and hit the player in his back and give the towel to him and ask him to run, and he sits in that place.

Players sitting in the circle who noticed the towel is dropped behind a player should not say it to the concern player.

The player who is running with the towel will sing ‘Kulai kulaiyaai mundirikkai’ as a question and the players sitting in the circle will sing ‘Nariya Nariya suthi vaa’ as an answer to the question. All the players have to sing at the time they run.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Indoor

Kokku para para (கொக்கு பற பற)

Kokku para para is a famous game still played by kids between 5 to 10 yrs in village and in schools. The game gives the wide knowledge about the flying and not flying things, etc. The game teaches the kids to be cautious and to observe keenly. The game improves the kids observing power.

Requirements

More number of players for more fun.

It can be played anywhere depending upon the size of the group.

How to play

All the players need to sit in a circle with their hands touching the ground.

One player in the group will be the commander and the other players should do actions according to the commands given by the commander.

The commander should name an item along with the “para para” (Fly Fly), for Example if the commander says “Koku Para Para (Crane Fly Fly)” The kids should repeat “Koku Para Para” and shake their hands as crane will fly, and if he  says “Plate Para Para” No actions will be made by the players as Plate will not Fly.

The Players need to hear carefully what the commander says and should judge whether the commander is saying a flying object or a non-flying object and should act accordingly.

If any of the players from the group makes any action for object that was called by the commander that does not fly, then that player will be out for rest of the game.

The commander will command slowly at the beginning and will increase the speed in order to eliminate the players from the game. The last single player in the game is the winner of the game.

Then they start the game from the beginning for the second round.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Indoor

Vidukathai (விடுகதை)

Vidukathai are generally used for easy teaching of children who enjoy the mysteries and surprises hidden in them, they are expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requires ingenuity and careful thinking for its solution.
 
விடுகதை - விடுவிக்கவேண்டிய புதிர், ஒரு இரு வரிகளில் ஒரு பொருளை மறைபொருளாக (நேரடியாக விவரிக்காமல்) விவரித்து தொடுக்கப்படுவது, கலை அழகோடும், மறைப்பு வித்தையோடும் தேடச் சொல்வது விடுகதை; யோசிக்க வைப்பது இதன் நோக்கம். நேசிக்க வைப்பது இதன் நேர்த்தி
 
விடுகதையை விரும்பாதவர்களே இருக்க முடியாது பெரியவர்கள் முதல் குழந்தைக்ள வரை அனைவரும் விரும்பக்கூடியது .உலகின் பண்பட்ட பண்படாத அனைத்து மொழிகளிலும் விடுகதைகள் காணப்பெறுகின்றன.விடுகதையை ஒரு இலக்கியமாகே கொண்டு போற்றப்பெறுகின்றது.விடுகதைகள் சிந்தனைக்கு விருந்தாவும்,நகைப்பிற்றகுக் களமாகவும் விளங்குகின்றன.இவ்விடுகதையில் உயர்ந்த வேதாந்த கருத்துக்கள் தொடங்கி எளிய உலக வாழ்க்கைப் பொருள் வரையிலும் இடம்பெற்றிருக்கும்.தொல்காப்பியர் விடுகதையைப் பிசி என்று கூறுகின்றார்.இப்படி அறிவுக்கு விருந்தாக அமையும் விடுகதை இன்று அருகி வருகின்றது.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Indoor

Book cricket (புக் கிரிக்கெட்)

Book Cricket is an indoor game. It is popular among students in schools. Kids play this game when they have leisure time in school and whenever they feel the lecture is boring. Kids play this at home when the weather is not conducive for outdoor games. The easiness to play this game makes it more popular among kids.

Things Required

A paper for each player

Book preferable a big book with lot of pages

Pen or Pencil

Two players

How to Play

The two players will have to decide the number of batsman.

Toss a coin and decide who is going to bat first

The player decided to bat will hold the book with him.

He has to randomly open the book and look for the page number

The player should always look for the side of book which has even numbers on it.

In the opened page, look for the even number and take note of the last unit in that number. For Example: If the opened page is 154, then the last unit is 4 so the score is 4. So the possible scores are 2, 4, 6, 8 and 0.

2, 4 and 6 score will be added to the batsman score as such and 8 will be a dot ball or counted as a single, it is decided at the beginning of the game when the decide on the number of bats man . 0 score means the batsman is out.

Close the book and open it again.

Note the score for that again.

The innings will go on until all the batsmen is out.

The total score of the first player is noted and then the second player takes over the Book and continues to play.

At the end who ever has the bigger score is the Winner 

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Indoor

Color color what color

“Color color what color do you choose” is a funny game played by kids in cities and villages in Schools during leisure time and in home during vacations. This game teaches the kids how to take decisions by coordinating with others and to observe what others speak. This game make the kids to be familiar with the different color shades.

Requirements

3 or More number of players

Play area mainly should have various colors.

How to play

One from the group of players is selected as the commander. The commander is selected by any one of the choosy method.

Other than the commander the rest of the people discuss between them selves and selects a color.

And the group stands away from the commander to some extent. Such that the group is in one end and the commander is in the other end.

The group ask the commander to choose the color with a statement as “color color what color do you choose” the commander replies the group with a color.

This is continued until the color the commander chooses matches the color decided by the group.

When the commander chosen color matches with the group decided color, the group as to run and touch the color with out getting caught in the hand of the commander.

If a person is caught by the commander the person will be the new commander and the commander will in turn join the group

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games

Indoor

Guess cricket

Guess cricket is a game played indoor, especially in schools and colleges during leisure time. It is much simpler to play and requires no specialized equipments or kits. This game enhances children guessing power, face-reading skills and teaches how to take calculated risk.

Things required

Two Players [Each player represents a team of cricketers]

Two white paper, one for each player to write the score

Pen or Pencil

How to Play

First write ‘ABCDEFG’ on top of the paper in block letter this will be the scorecard for that player

The Scorecard is separated into two sections namely Batting and Bowling

Both player should decide on the number of batsmen and number of overs in the match

Write down the Batsmen names in the batting section with sufficient space between the two batsman names.

In the bowling section, write a blank for each ball to be bowled with each row representing one over. E.g. - if it is a 10 over match then there should be ten rows and each row should have six blank dashes written on it.

After writing the above details, both the players / teams are ready to play. Now it is time for toss.

Toss a coin and decide who is going to bat first and who is going to bowl first.

The player decided to Bat first should take his Scorecard and be ready to note down his score.

The player decided to Bowl first should take his Scorecard and be ready to bowl. He has to write any one letter from ABCDEFG in the first over’s first bowl [represented by a blank in his scorecard]. Say he writes ‘E’ in the first bowl blank.

Now the player batting has to guess a letter from ABCDEFG, if the player says ‘A’ then the difference between the letter bowled and the letter batted is his score. In this example it is 4, as A is the first letter and E is the fifth letter,
 5 – 1 = 4.

In this way the bowling player has to bowl a letter, the batting player has to bat a letter from ABDCDEFG, and the score should be arrived.

When the letter bowled and the letter batted is the same then the Batsman is OUT.

The game will carry on till either all the batsmen are Out or till all the overs are bowled.

Once the innings is over then the total score of the player batting is calculated. That will be the total of that team or player

Now the other person will take batting and the first player has to bowl.

At the end who ever has scored more runs will Win this Guess Cricket Match

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Marriage Games
In South India, marriage rituals usually get completed in an hour or two in the morning. After the marriage, the families of both the bride and groom get free time to sit and chat among the relatives till they vacate the chatram (Marriage Hall), during this leisure time they conduct games between the Bride and Groom and sometime among the relatives just to have fun. Here are some of the games played traditionally in South India Marriages.

Pattukku Pattu (பாட்டுக்கு பாட்டு)

Paattukku Paatu is one of the famous game played in Marriages, Picnic’s, etc. In this game a person or group begins a new song starting with the last letter of the song sung by the previous person or group.

How to Play:
Number of Persons required for playing this game is a minimum of two persons. If more than two persons are interested in playing the game then 2 groups with equal number of players are formed. First, a group sings a song and stop at a point and then the other group has to sing a song starting with the last letter of the song sung by the previous group, this goes on like a chain and if a group fails to start a song then the other group gains one point. This game continues until all in the group gets tired.

Rules:

Anyone from the group can start the song if they know it and others can join

The group has to start the song within 10 seconds failing the opponent group will start a count down from 10 and if they fail to start before the countdown they lose.

The song should be of same genre  for example: Throughout the game they have to sing Tamil film songs

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Marriage Games


Thengai uruturathu (தேங்காய் உருட்டுறது)

Thengai uruturathu is one of the interesting traditional game played by bride and groom in marriages. This game is played in traditional marriages just to have fun and to get an understanding between the Bride and Groom.

How to Play:
This game is played only after the marriage that is after tying the Knot. The bride and groom are asked to sit in opposite directions leaving a distance of 5 to 10 feet (with respect to availability of space). Then one coconut is given to each other and are asked to roll on the ground to the opponent i.e. Bride to the Groom and Groom to the Bride at the same time. The roll it in such a way that the coconuts gets hit by the other on the way. It sometimes happen that the coconuts break into two on the way when they get hit. Usually each of them should roll the coconut for three times.

All the relatives gather around the Bride and groom and make fun of them by commenting and in other ways.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Marriage Games


Poo Bandhu (பூ பந்து)

Poo Bandhu is yet another  interesting traditional game played by bride and groom in marriages. This game is played in traditional marriages just to have fun and to get an understanding between the Bride and Groom.

How to Play:
This game is played only after the marriage that is after tying the Knot. The bride and groom are asked to sit in opposite directions leaving a distance of 5 to 10 feet (with respect to availability of space). Then a ball made of flowers is given to them and are asked to throw it to the each other, if the bride throws the ball the groom needs to catch the ball and vice versa. The bride and groom make all false throw to bring more fun in the scene.

All the relatives gather around the Bride and groom and make fun of them by commenting and in other ways.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Marriage Games


Koachitu Poorathu (கோபித்துக்கொண்டு செல்வது)

Koachitu Poorathu is one of the interesting and funny traditional game played by bride and groom in marriages. This game is played in traditional marriages just to have fun and to get an understanding between the Bride and Groom.

How to Play:
This game is played only after the marriage that is after tying the Knot. The Groom with his friends and cousins has go to a room or a place in the marriage hall and should sleep on his friend’s Lap and cover himself with his Angavastaram (A long towel which we use to wear on the shoulders) pretending that he is angry with the Bride. The friends for their part will get the grooms chain, ring, watch, and other belongings and distribute among them selves.

The bride with her friends and relatives come to the groom where he is sleeping with Juice, Comb, mirror, tooth brush (a stick which villagers used to brush their teeth), etc to calm down the Groom and take him back to home.

The Bride will try to convince the groom, while the friends and relative criticise the actions the bride and groom do. Finally once the groom is convinced the Bride will wake the Groom give tooth brush (Stick), then water any comb his hair by holding the mirror in front of the groom, do him other make up with the things she brought  and finally give the juice to calm him down. Then she gets the grooms belongings from his friends and put it on the groom and takes the grooms angavastaram and tie it to her saree and take him home.

Usually this game is played in order to show Groom’s friends and cousins to the Bride.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Marriage Games


Appalam Udaithal (அப்பளம் உடைத்தல்)

Appalam Udaithal is yet another interesting traditional game played by bride and groom in marriages. This game is played in traditional marriages just to have fun and to get an understanding between the Bride and Groom.

How to Play:
This game is played only after the marriage that is after tying the Knot. The bride and groom are asked to sit in opposite directions so that they can touch each other’s face. Then roasted Appalams (Pappad) are kept in a basket near them and the Bride and groom are asked to play with it by hitting it in others face. First the bride picks two appalams in two hands and take it to Groom’s face and crush it by hit it in the cheek of the Groom without hurting. It will be of great fun when they hit the applam on one another with bit force without hurting the opponent.

All the relatives gather around the Bride and groom and make fun of them by commenting and in other ways.

[MysteRy]

Indian Traditional Games


Marriage Games


Manjal Thanner (மஞ்சள் தண்ணீர்)

Manjal Thanneris yet another interesting traditional game played by bride and groom in marriages. This game is played in traditional marriages just to have fun and to get an understanding between the Bride and Groom.

How to Play:
This game is played only after the marriage that is after tying the Knot. The bride and groom are asked to go to an open place and stand in opposite direction in a space of 5 to 10 feet. Then a bucket of water with turmeric powder (Manjal) mixed in it is give to the each other, then with a relative accompanying with each other, each take a cup of turmeric water from the bucket and pours it on the others head (i.e. The Bride to Groom and Groom to Bride). They do this for three times. They usually play this game with turmeric water in order to kill unwanted bacteria and germs (which they may have got during the marriage ceremony) in their body as turmeric has medicinal value.

All the relatives gather around the Bride and groom and make fun of them by commenting and in other ways.