Indian Musical Ganjifa by Sawantwadi Palace

Above: Sawantwadi, Maharashtra, India.

Long-necked stringed instruments with resonating gourds at both ends, intricate drums, cymbals, woodwinds, and more – an entire orchestra of traditional Indian musical instruments is arranged on these cards from the Sawantwadi Palace Workshop.

Like its Animal Ganjifa and Bird Ganjifa cousins, Indian Musical Ganjifa was designed by Rajmata Satvashiladevi Bhonsle, the wife of the last ruler of Sawantwadi, and Kishor N. Gordhandas, eminent ganjifa scholar and artist. All three decks were created with the dual aim of promoting the game while showcasing India’s rich cultural and natural heritage.

The deck is arranged according to the standard dashavatar ganjifa breakdown of ten suits of twelve cards each (120 cards in total). Each suit has ten pip and two court cards: the pradhan (minister) lower court card and the raja (king) upper one.

Each suit is dedicated to a particular instrument, images of which make up the pip symbols. The pradhan card shows the instrument being played by a standing male musician while the raja card depicts a sitting female.

The instruments are:

• Tambura (tanpura)
• Sarangi
• Sitar
• Zanz
• Mridangam
• Shehnai
• Flute (possibly bansuri)
• Kanjira
• Tabla
• Rudra veena

Indian Musical Ganjifa contains a wrinkle that might interfere with traditional gameplay. Ordinarily, each suit in a ten-suit ganjifa deck is dedicated to an avatar of Vishnu, such as Rama or Krishna. These avatars, which are featured on the court cards, are important to gameplay. For example, if a ganjifa round is played during the day, Rama’s suit is trump; if it’s played at night, Krishna’s is.

Bird Ganjifa and Animal Ganjifa retain the traditional avatars on their court cards; Indian Musical Ganjifa does not. Instead, its court cards feature musical instruments. That raises the question: which instrument suit is trump if the game is played during the day? Which is the nighttime trump? The answer’s unclear.

Aside from that, it’s another successful deck from the Sawantwadi Palace Workshop, bringing India’s musical heritage to the palm of your hand.