Compiled by: Kandiah Thillaivinayagalingam]
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Although we don't
know much about what it was like to be a child in the Indus Valley,we do know a
small amount of information about these times..Indus Valley people seem to have
loved toys.They made many toys, such as toy carts and toy animals, from baked
clay.Archaeologists have found model cows that waggle their heads on a
string,and toy monkeys that could slide down ropes,and little squirrels.They
have also discovered toy carts have a little roof, to keep off the rain and hot
sun.All these shows that the Humans have been playing with toys for over
4000-5000 years.Indus valley children would play on courtyards,streets and
roofs.Unlike today,where children are amused by television,the Ancient Indians
were easily amused by the simplest things,like,whistles.The Ancient Indians are
most likely the first people to invent the whistle and give us the idea of
it.Indus children may also have played with pull-along animals on wheels,as
well as rattles and bird-whistles as said earlier,all made from terracotta.One
clay figure,which was found there,is of a boy holding a small disc,probably
used in a throw-and-chase game.We understand that while Younger Indus Valley
kids take part in smaller daily chores whereas older children were taught
skills such as hunting,building,and farming.Also the people (especially adults)
of the Indus Valley cities enjoyed gambling and playing board games in their
spare time.At Harrappa archaeologists also found dice made from cubes of
sandstone and terracotta.These dice are probably the oldest in the world!
Hence,the Indus Valley people were probably the first people in the world to
use cube dice with six sides and spots (the kind of dice we use today). These
dice have been found in Harrapan sites such as Kalibangan, Lothal, Ropar,
Alamgirpur, Desalpur and surrounding territories ,some dating back to the third
millennium BC,which may be used for gambling.Dicing is believed to have later
spread westwards to Persia,influencing Persian board games.Early references to
dicing can be found in the Ṛig Veda as well as the newer atharvaveda .The following excellent
remarks are probably the oldest in the world upon the vice of gambling.They are
found in Rig Veda,10-34-13,which says:“Play not with dice:no,cultivate thy
corn-land. Enjoy the gain, and deem that wealth sufficient.There are thy cattle
there thy wife, O gambler. So this good Savitar himself hath told me"[Rig
Veda 10-34-13,] that is "Never play
with dice; practice husbandry; rejoice in thy prosperity, esteeming it
sufficient. Be satisfied with thy cattle and thy wife, the god advises."
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The Sangam works
contain mines of information for the study of early history of Tamilakam.They
reflect the matter of great historical importance.Narrinai refers to the games
played with decorated dolls.Kuruntogai mentions about children playing with
toy-cart and with the sand houses made by them on the seashore.Women amused
themselves with the religious dances,playing the dice and varippanthu or cloth
ball.Also,playing in swings made of palmrya fibres was common among girls.
Girls in the
ancient Tamil land enjoyed a life of comparative freedom and happiness.The
Tamil literature gives us a clear picture of the happy time spent by the girl
in her home before she was married.However,the games in which they found
pleasure differed with their age.when they were in Pethai stage,the age of
innocence,they played with her companions the favourite game of dolls.Many of
the pastimes were usually common to the girls of the five regions.Playing with
dolls made of grass or silt was a favourite.The crude doll shaped out of mud or
grass and decorated with flowers went by the name of pavai (doll)* called
"Vandar-Pavai" where ' Vandal ' means silt. In Ainkurunuru 124,Sangam
poem,where,the concubine or the heroine’s friend teased the hero as;
"Hearken[listen
attentively], My Lord, Have we not seen your
beloved Stamping
and throwing the fine sand,
To dry the sea
which washed her doll away".
Also Kalittogai, 59
says that the girl was no longer a child,but yet she was not of an age to
understand the poignancy of love's darts.Thus it is that we find the lover
accusing her saying "you are running away from me with your anklets
tinkling,to play with toy utensils and gaily coloured doll." Here,the doll
may be a wooden one,brightly coloured. Most probably these wooden doll may be
belonged to a later period.
"O girl
with pearl-studded gold bangles
that resemble
decked lotus petals in bloom, pretty
fingers like the
fragrant, delicate kānthal flowers of
the mountain
slopes, and pretty forearms like ladles!
Did you come to
play with your red striped clay toys
and dolls? I saw you with your beautiful hair flowing
down your
shoulders when you walked by, your lovely
anklets
jingling. I lost my senses as you
ignored me
with your
silence and moved away. Listen to me!"
Similarly we find
that the little boys were playing with toy chariot by Akananuru 16 as well as by Pattinappalai[20-25]
"Women with
bright brows, fine jewels
and delicate
looks, dry food
in the wide front
yards of their huge
houses, and
chase hens that come to
steal their
food, throwing at them their
earrings, heavy
and curved at the bases,
hindering the
horseless, three-wheeled
toy chariots
rolled by youngsters wearing
gold
anklets-"[Pattinappalai,20-25]
The art of puppetry
is a very ancient tradition of India and it is regarded to be universal art.
Puppetry has served as a medium for human communication for several years.The
origin of the art of puppetry can be traced back to Indus valley civilization but
now it has crossed the geographical boundaries and political frontiers and
reached many other countries.Evidence of puppetry comes from the excavations at
the Indus Valley.Archaeologists have unearthed terracotta dolls with detachable
heads capable of manipulation by a string dating to 2500 BC.Other excavations
include terracotta animals which could be manipulated up and down a
stick,further confirming this puppetry existed in Indus valley.Even the Tamil
poet Tiruvalluvar mentioned two thousand years ago,that:'“The movements of a
man who has not a sensitive conscience are like the simulation of life by
marionettes moved by strings.”in his compositions.The mention of the 'pavai
koothu' in the Tamil epic Silappadhikaram by Ilango Adigal is also very significant
regarding the history of puppetry.
Tis as with strings
a wooden puppet apes life's functions, when
Those void of shame
within hold intercourse with men.[Thirukkural 1020]
[Meaning:The
actions of those who are without modesty at heart are like those of puppet
moved by a string.]
PART :72 WILL
FOLLOW
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