Ganjapa — The Painted Playing Cards of Odisha: Where Traditional Games, Pattachitra and Mythology Come Together

Spread India's Glorious Cultural & Spiritual Heritage

Introduction

In Odisha, the tradition of painting has never been confined to temple walls, cloth scrolls or decorative objects. It has also found an unusual expression in something meant for play — the humble playing card.

Known as Ganjapa, these traditional circular playing cards are among Odisha’s most fascinating folk-art traditions. Hand-painted by skilled artists, they transform a traditional card game into a miniature gallery of mythology, religious imagery, animals, symbols and decorative motifs.

Ganjapa belongs to the wider Indian Ganjifa family of traditional playing cards, but Odisha gave the tradition its own distinctive character through its connection with Pattachitra painting and the religious culture of the region.

From Ganjifa to Ganjapa

Ganjapa is part of the long history of Ganjifa, a traditional card-playing culture associated with India and the wider Persianate world.

The Indian Ganjifa tradition became established during the Mughal period. Over time, different regions developed their own versions, changing the number of suits, imagery, shapes and themes.

In Odisha, the cards acquired a particularly distinctive identity. Instead of remaining merely functional objects for playing a game, they became beautifully painted objects carrying stories and images from the religious and cultural traditions of Odisha.

The result is a wonderful meeting of game, painting and storytelling.

Why Are Odisha’s Ganjapa Cards Round?

One of the most immediately recognisable features of Ganjapa is its circular shape.

Unlike the rectangular playing cards familiar today, traditional Odisha Ganjapa cards are generally round. The circular format provides a small, self-contained surface on which the artist creates an entire composition.

The Odisha tradition has developed many variations in the size and number of cards. IGNCA’s documentation, for example, records round Ganjifa sets from Raghurajpur, Chikiti, Puri, Berhampur and Parlakhemundi.

The round card also sits beautifully within Odisha’s wider artistic vocabulary, where circular forms, stylised figures, decorative borders and strongly defined outlines are familiar features.

A Little Pattachitra in Every Card

Perhaps the most beautiful aspect of Ganjapa is its relationship with Pattachitra.

The cards are traditionally hand-painted, and the artists use the visual language of Odisha’s painting traditions. Mythological figures, animals, divine personalities and narrative scenes are rendered in carefully controlled compositions.

The connection is particularly strong in places such as Raghurajpur, the celebrated artists’ village near Puri.

Ganjapa therefore offers something quite unusual: instead of seeing Pattachitra only as a large painted cloth or decorative artwork, one encounters its artistic vocabulary on tiny circular cards intended to be handled and played with.

How Are Ganjapa Cards Made?

Traditional Ganjapa is a remarkably handmade craft.

In Odisha, cloth has traditionally been used in the preparation of the card surface. Cotton fabric is treated with adhesive made from tamarind seeds and prepared with chalk or similar materials to create a firm, smooth surface suitable for painting.

The surface is dried, smoothed and burnished before the circular cards are cut. The artist then paints the individual cards by hand.

Traditional descriptions also mention the use of natural pigments and fine brushes. A final coating helps protect the painted surface and gives the cards their characteristic smoothness and durability.

Thus, a Ganjapa card is not something that simply comes out of a printing press. Every card is a small handmade work of art.

The Many Themes of Ganjapa

One of the most fascinating things about Odisha’s Ganjapa tradition is the extraordinary variety of themes.

Dashavatara

The ten incarnations of Vishnu are among the best-known subjects.

A Dashavatara pack transforms the traditional game into a visual journey through the incarnations of Vishnu.

IGNCA documents several Odisha Dashavatara sets, including examples from Raghurajpur, Chikiti, Puri, Berhampur and Parlakhemundi.

Ramayana

The Ramayana also appears in Ganjapa.

Scenes and characters associated with Rama’s story can become part of a card set, allowing an epic narrative to be experienced through the structure of a traditional game.

Odisha’s cultural documentation describes Ramayana Ganjapa as an important variety, and the Odisha Review has noted its popularity among the Ganjapa varieties of the region.

Mahabharata

The great Indian epic also found its way onto the cards.

IGNCA records a Mahabharata Ganjifa set from Chikiti, consisting of twelve suits and depicting twelve scenes from the epic.

Navagunjara

One of the most visually distinctive subjects is Navagunjara, the extraordinary composite form associated with Krishna in Odisha’s artistic tradition.

Navagunjara combines different animal and human forms into a single mythical being. It is particularly appropriate for Ganjapa because its unusual appearance lends itself beautifully to stylised painting.

IGNCA documents Navagunjara Ganjifa sets from Raghurajpur and Puri.

Navadurga, Navagraha and the Divine World

The imagination of Ganjapa extends far beyond the Ramayana and Dashavatara.

There are sets based on Navadurga, the nine forms of Goddess Durga, and Navagraha, the nine planetary deities.

IGNCA records a Navadurga set made in Raghurajpur by artist Banamali Mahapatra, consisting of 108 cards in nine suits. It also records a Navagraha set from Raghurajpur.

Different Numbers of Suits

Ganjapa is not restricted to a single standard pack.

Different traditional games can have different numbers of suits and cards. IGNCA’s documentation reveals Odisha sets containing 8, 9, 10, 12, 16, 20 and even 24 suits.

This makes Ganjapa considerably more elaborate than the familiar 52-card pack used today.

The different suits may be distinguished by colours, symbols, deities or other visual conventions, depending on the particular variety.

Ganjapa from Raghurajpur

Raghurajpur occupies an especially important place in the story of Odisha’s painted cards.

The village is internationally recognised for its Pattachitra artists, and Ganjapa became another medium through which these artists expressed their skills.

IGNCA’s digital collection records numerous Ganjifa sets from Raghurajpur, including Dashavatara, Navagunjara, Navadurga, Navagraha and other themes. Some of these were made by the artist Banamali Mahapatra.

Ganjapa Beyond Puri

The tradition is not confined to Raghurajpur.

Historical and museum documentation records Ganjifa traditions from several parts of Odisha, including:

Puri • Raghurajpur • Chikiti • Berhampur • Parlakhemundi • Sonepur and other areas. (IGNCA)

This geographical spread is important because different centres developed their own artistic interpretations.

For example, IGNCA documents a 16-suit Dashavatara set from Parlakhemundi, made in 1993 by Prakashchandra Mahapatra.

Thus, Ganjapa can also become a fascinating way of exploring the regional diversity of Odisha’s traditional painting traditions.

When Painting Became Part of Play

There is something particularly charming about Ganjapa.

A Pattachitra painting is normally admired as a work of art. A Ganjapa card, however, has another life.

It is painted, handled, shuffled, played and passed from one person to another.

The painting therefore becomes part of a social activity.

The game itself required memory, recognition and strategic thinking. IGNCA notes that traditional Ganjifa games could also function as a means of retaining traditional knowledge because the players repeatedly encountered religious figures, symbols and narratives through the cards.

In this sense, Ganjapa was not simply entertainment.

It was also a form of visual storytelling and cultural memory.

More Than Playing Cards

Over time, the artistic possibilities of Ganjapa have expanded.

Today, the motifs and visual language associated with the cards can also be adapted to decorative objects and contemporary products. The Government of India’s handicrafts documentation notes examples involving paper, cloth and canvas, as well as products such as decorative plates, trays, coasters and other objects.

This offers an interesting way for a traditional art form to enter contemporary homes without completely abandoning its visual identity.

A Heritage Tradition Worth Preserving

Traditional Ganjapa represents something that is increasingly rare in the modern world: a game in which every component was handmade and individually painted.

The decline of traditional card games, changing forms of entertainment and the difficulty of sustaining specialised craft skills have created challenges for the tradition.

IGNCA has documented concerns about the declining number of traditional artists and has highlighted the importance of workshops, exhibitions, documentation and greater public awareness.

Preserving Ganjapa therefore means preserving both the art and the game.

Saving only the painted cards would preserve the visual object, but not necessarily the living tradition of playing and understanding them.

A Miniature Gallery of Odisha’s Cultural Imagination

Perhaps the greatest charm of Ganjapa lies in its scale.

A small circular card can contain a deity, an epic episode, a mythological creature or an entire symbolic world.

Placed together, a complete deck becomes almost like a miniature illustrated manuscript—except that the pages can be shuffled, dealt and played.

This is what makes Ganjapa such a remarkable part of Odisha’s heritage.

It is simultaneously a traditional game, a painting tradition, a storytelling medium and a repository of cultural memory.

Ganjapa — Where Art Meets the Art of Play

In an age of mass-produced playing cards and digital games, the hand-painted Ganjapa card offers a glimpse into another world—one in which play, craftsmanship, mythology and community life were closely intertwined.

Each card was painted by hand.

Each deck could tell a different story.

And every game brought those painted stories to life.

Ganjapa is therefore much more than a set of traditional playing cards. It is a beautiful example of how Odisha transformed an everyday pastime into an extraordinary expression of its artistic and cultural heritage.

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