Parakuzhi is a game played in Kerala south India. The word derives
from two Malayalam words. Para ( paranthu ) means flat & Kuzhi means
hole.

It is a very old game played in Kerala between two people using a
board often in the shape of a wooden fish which opens up flat with
holes on each side into which are placed seeds often Manjhadikuru
seeds a seed from a tree. Kuru means Seed in Malayalam. i believe the
game is somewhat like backgammon. I would like to know how to play the
game and require to get a set of rules please.

---

Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 25 Dec 2004 15:07 PST

olliezzz --

Is it possible that the game is also known as "Pallang Kuzhi"?

"I had a surprise shock when my son from the other side of the phone
asked me, 'Dad, do you know there is a game known as Pallang Kuzhi? It
is made of wood with two sides, with small pits seven on each side.
Dad, it is so much fun, so exciting to play with tamarind seeds.'"

Chennai Online: Games and Their Hidden Values
http://www.chennaionline.com/columns/variety/variety107.asp 


markj-ga

olliezzz --

Thank you again for your comment.

The comment by meadowwolf-ga has given you information and online
resources for further exploration of mancala games is general. 
(Meadowwolf-ga is not a Google Answers researcher and thus cannot post
an "official" answer to your question.)

In response to your specific interest in the rules of the mancala game
that you remember as "parakuzhi" and which is played in south India
(specifically Kerala), let me offer you the following information.


In your comment, you suggested in response to my question that the
game that interests you could be the one that is called "pallang
kuzhi."  This led me to do some more research that revealed that
"pallang kuzhi" is among a group of mancala games played in south
India with the variant English-language spellings of pallaankuzhi,
pallankuzhi, pallangulli, pallanguli and pallankuli.  Here is an
example of the sources for my conclusion that these are all close
variants of the same game and, according to some sources, may be an
ancient Tamil term for mancala games as a group:

Mancala Games: Pallankuzhi
http://manqala.org/wiki/index.php/MancalaGames/Pallankuzhi?PHPSESSID=6cb28e2ba45275ea3878535098696475


Needless this say, your interesting question poses the baffling
problem of distinguishing among hundreds of different version of
mancala games, many of them played in southern India and many of them
having very similar names, at least in part because of inconsistencies
in translating from ancient Tamil script to English.

Under the circumstances, I was particularly happy to find a set of
rules to one of these very similarly named (and very probably
similarly played) games.  Here is a link to what is a very clear
description of the rules of the game called "pallanguli":

Thinkquest: Pallanguli
http://library.thinkquest.org/26408/data/texts/34079638.shtml



Additional Information:

Early in my research I came across a website that offers a
downloadable version of the game as spelled "pallang kuzhi."  Although
I can't vouch for its playability, it may of some interest to you:

Pallang kuzhi
http://education.vsnl.com/sakthi/popy.html



Search Strategy:

When a Google search on the name of the game as you remembered it
turned up nothing of interest, I conducted various Google searches on
the two words "paranthu" and "kuzhi," along with other search terms
like "game" and "rules".

I quickly learned that "kuzhi", but not "paranthu", is a component of
both one-word and two-word names of mancala games that were the type
of board games that interest you.

Many searches based on variations of the names that I found led me to
the conclusion that they appeared to refer to very similar games, many
of which were explicitly noted as being played in south India.  In the
course of these searches I came across the rules of one of these games
I have provided above.


I am confident that this is the information you are seeking.  If
anything is unclear, please ask for clarification before rating the
answer. And thanks again to meadowwolf for his/her contribution to the
information about mancala games in general.



markj-ga

In researching, I have the following questions:
(1) Can you tell us how many holes on each side?
(2a)Are the holes all the same size or is one hole larger than the others?  
(2b) If one hole is larger than the others, where is the larger hold
in relation to the other holes?  For example, does the board have two
larger holes, one on each side?

This will help to identify possible links to the game and game rules.

Regards,

Meadow Wolf

it seems you may be correct. The number of holes on each side is seven with one

larger and extra pit on each side.this pit is opposite each other and
I think is the discard hole or pit. It sounds like Pallang Kuzhi

meadowwolf --

Thanks for your comment.  I will look further tomorrow for rules for
Pallang Kuzhi and post an answer if and when I find them.

markj-ga

The board game is a mancala game.  Mancala is not a single game but
rather refers to a category of games.  The only difference is the
number of pits or rows. Yes, the mathematical strategy to win the game
would be similiar to backgammon.

Below I listed links to rules for seven-row mancala games, as well as
links to pictures of the boards and history of the game, including
India.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules for mancala game with seven pits:
http://www.bgamers.com/mancrul.htm
http://imagiware.com/mancala/

------------------------------------------------
Picture of Sri Lanka (seven holes) board

The Sri Lankans play a game called "Olinda Kaliya" which uses Indian
Style laps. The characteristic seeds used for the game, bright scarlet
with black tips, are from this Olinda bush.
To the right is an Olinda bush observed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. 
Bottom right is a Sri Lankan table pictured in the reception of the
Kandalama Hotel, Sri Lanka. It is made from Mahogany and is designed
in the form of an Olinda Kaliya board. The author is now the proud
owner of this table - and the larger than life playing seeds that go
with it.
http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Mancala.htm

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miscellaneous

This article references Sri Lanka mancala board games and National
Museums of Colombo:
?All objects relating to mancala games including moulds and a bed show
a playing board configuration of two rows of seven holes and two
enlarged holes often placed in between the playing rows. Other
collections of Sri-Lankan mancala boards show a similar uniformity.?
http://www.boardgamesstudies.org/studies/issue3/article.shtml?voogt.txt

List of worldwide mancala games, including India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mancala_games

Googlism:  What is mancala?
http://www.googlism.com/what_is/m/mancala/

Regards,
Meadow Wolf

The notes I posted above are for seven-row marcala in general and make
no reference to either Parakuzhi or Pallang Kuzhi.

Meadow Wolf