Ganjifa

Ganjifa is a royal card game played only by the kings and queens. The cards are all hand drawn and painted with natural colors. Today, very few artists/craftsmen are involved into the making of ganjifa and these are patronized under the current queen of Sawantwadi but are not made using natural colors. Here are some images of the ganjifa and its making from the rajwada of Sawantwadi.
Ganjifa artist, Mr. M. V. Kulkarni (in the above images) says that this art needs to be inborn and self taught. To draw a beautiful image, you should be able to imagine it in front of your eyes, he says.
A set of ganjifa is available for Rs 3000/-. Today, very few people can play ganjifa. Modern necessity has made the artists to paint our regular set of cards which have a wider market.