| Object Number | 16471 |
| Current Location | Collections Storage |
| Culture | Sinhalese |
| Provenience | Sri Lanka |
| Date Made | 19th Century - 1893 |
| Section | Asian |
| Materials | Wood |
| Description | Pancha keliya board game also known as Kawade kelia (cowrie game). Ceylon. The board, 12 by 24.5 inches, is marked with a design cut in the wood. It is elevated by two strips of wood nailed transversely across the bottom, and bears a nearly obliterated diagram for the same game in blue. From the exhibit of the Government of Ceylon at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago. Two or four persons play. In the latter case, two play as partners. Cowries of different kinds are used as men, each player having three. These are called bala, "dogs" (singular, balo). The moves are made according to the throws, with six cowrie shells. The counts are as follows: 6 mouths up = 6 5 mouths up = 5 4 mouths up = 4 3 mouths up = 3 2 mouths up = 2 1 mouth up = 1 The players stand at opposite sides of the bottom of the board and finish at the end of the interior diagram, making the circuit in opposite directions. A player may take and set back an opponent's piece, unless it be upon one of the squares crossed by diagonals, called cattya. |
| Credit Line | Purchased from the Ceylon Commissioner, World's Columbian Exposition, 1893 |
| Other Number | 621 - Other Number |
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