Play Aadu Puli
Goats and Tigers · a traditional Tamil game
How to playThree tigers, fifteen goats
- The tigers start at the top of the board: one on the peak and two just below it.
- The goats begin. They come onto the board one at a time. Each turn, put one goat on any empty point.
- The tigers move after every goat turn, one step along a line to the next empty point.
- A tiger eats a goat by jumping over it in a straight line, when the point just beyond is empty. One goat per jump.
- Once all fifteen goats are on the board, the goats move too, one step along a line. Goats never jump.
- The goats win when no tiger can move. The tigers win when they have eaten enough goats (5 or 7, you choose).
If sixty moves go by after all the goats are placed with no goat eaten, the game is a draw. Rules differ from village to village; some families play until every goat is eaten. Play your way and talk about the difference.
While you playAsk each other
- Which goat is in danger right now? How can you tell?
- Where can this tiger go next? Count its paths.
- If you put a goat here, can a tiger jump it?
- Which tiger is nearly trapped? What would close its last path?
- How did the goats feel, working as a team? How did the tigers feel?
A hunt drawn in stone and chalk
Aadu Puli Attam means the goat and tiger game. Its triangle board has been scratched into temple floors, stone steps and verandas across South India; old boards are still carved into the ruins of Vijayanagara at Hampi and on the temple parapet on Chamundi Hill in Mysuru. Families draw it in chalk or in the sand and play with tamarind seeds, pebbles and shells.
It is played across the region under many names: Puli Meka in Telugu, Aadu Huli in Kannada, Lambs and Tigers in English. Its cousin in Nepal is Bagh Chal. The two sides are unequal on purpose. The tigers are strong alone; the goats only win together. Children learn to look ahead, to think like the other player and to protect each other.
Bring play back into the classroom
Aadu Puli Attam is one of the traditional games we use in our kindergarten teacher training, alongside Waldorf, Montessori and Reggio Emilia practice. Draw the board on the floor with chalk and play with seeds and stones.