Paramapadham

Paramapadham is Snakes and Ladders in

English; it was created in ancient India before 1892.

It is also known as Parama Pada Sopanam means

Steps to the Highest Place (where Parama Pada

means highest place and Sopanam means steps).Paramapadham was inspired by religion; and was

believed to be symbolic of a man's attempt to reach

God. The ladders represent virtues and the snakes

represent vices. The snakes carry names linking them

to stories from our epics.

How to Play

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The board for Paramapatham consists of totally 100 squares which are marked by ladders ad snakes randomly. If a snakes head starts in a square it will end at few grinds down. Game Pieces may be anything like Seeds, Coins, and Shells, the only requirement is that each coin should be unique and should easily differentiated from each other.

This game can be played by more than two people, and in villages grannies play this game with their grandchildren often to engage their free time. This game is easy to play and has not many strict rules.

The game starts, when a player gets one in his dice, he moves in the grind as per the numbers he gets in his dice. On completion of a move, if the player’s coin lands in the lower numbered end of a ladder, he must move up and places his coin where the top of the ladder leads to. If the player’s coins land in the higher numbered grind of the snake, he should come down and ends where the tail of the snake lays.

A player gets an extra turn if he gets 1, 5, 6 numbers on his dice. The ultimate theme of this game is that, to attain enlightenment, in life one has to conquer all the vices and goods. For this luck also plays a vital role, luck is nothing but fate. The game also interprets the effects of good deeds versus bad. The board is covered with mystic images.

The winner of the game is the one who first reaches the "100" box on the board.