{"id":4052,"date":"2016-05-03T21:44:46","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T16:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybhubaneswar.com\/?p=4052"},"modified":"2021-01-25T13:03:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T07:33:22","slug":"silence-ganjapa-shuffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/discoverbbsr.com\/silence-ganjapa-shuffle\/","title":{"rendered":"Silence of Ganjapa Shuffle"},"content":{"rendered":"

From a folk tradition that took roots during the Moghul rule in Odisha, Ganjapa cards have been reduced to a mere collective item for art lovers today.<\/p>\n

In fact, apart from Pattachitra, these hand painted circular cards are a souvenir item that tourists collect from artists\u2019 village of Raghurajpur and Dandasahi in Puri to be used for decorative purposes or as glass covers. Even the number of families that creates these cards has reduced drastically over the years. Today, the tradition of making these cards exists only in villages of Puri, Ganjam, Gajapati and Sonepur districts. While just two to three families prepare these cards in Puri district, there is only one family each in Sonepur, Ganjam and Gajapati districts who are carrying on with the\u00a0 tradition. Besides, there are just a handful of people left who play this card game. These circular traditional playing cards are painted in typical Pattachitra style with natural colours.<\/p>\n

According to historians, Ganjapa, is derived from Persian word Gajife and the tradition of playing these cards was first mentioned in the memoirs of Moghul emperor Babur in 1527 AD, said Banamali Mohaptra, a Ganjapa card expert.<\/p>\n