The Avatar Tas (Ganjifa)

Avatar Tas is the five-player Bengali Dashabatar Tash game, played with a 120-card Ganjifa Dasavatara deck representing the avatars of Vishnu. The Dashabatar Tash deck is the pack associated with these rules. Each suit contains a raja (king), a pradhan or mantri (minister), and ten numeral cards. The game rules were preserved and supplied by Sital Fouzdar of Bishnupur, West Bengal, alongside his work making Dashabatar cards.

Above: A typical scene of men playing Ganjifa cards in Bishnupur. Photo courtesy of Debi Prassana Nanda.

The game is played by five people, with 24 cards dealt to each player. The cards are arranged and played in sequences, with the aim of putting down as many high or consecutive cards as possible. The main avatar, whose king starts the game, changes according to the time or conditions of play: Rama at noon, Nrisingha in the evening, Matsya at night, Jagannath in the morning, and Kurma during rain. Completed runs score in five-point “ticks”, with special calls and scoring opportunities adding further layers to the game.

Fouzdar’s interview explains how he recovered the rules after learning that a German museum held a collection of Dashabatar Tash cards and a set of gaming instructions.