Let’s crack a festive puzzle

Kick off Navratri with a puzzle that depicts different versions of the celebration across states

Across the different states of South India, Navratri is welcomed and celebrated differently, points out illustrator and artist Priyanka Tampi. “Women are at the heart of almost all the traditions in South India,” she says. Tampi’s latest venture is a collaborative one with cultural games company Aurva. It involves a set of four 300-piece puzzles that depict scenes of the festival across states. The idea was to keep women at the fore in the illustrations and showcase the feminine energy that makes the festivities special and important.

Each puzzle represents a version of Navratri, starting with the Jamboo Savari puzzle, inspired by the Mysore festival, where the famous procession takes place on the back of elephants. Other festivals depicted include Vidyarambham from Kerala, the Golu celebrations of Tamil Nadu and the Bathukamma Padunga from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. 

For Tampi, this was a passion project that took about a month to get right. “It’s very interesting because through puzzles like the one on Bathukamma Padunga, you can see the women carry stacks of flowers that they make during the festival, and what attire they wear during it. The details are visible across all the puzzles,” she concludes. 

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