A game of virtues and vice
The Sanskrit term for the board game, known today as SaanpSeedi or Snakes and Ladders, is Mokshapat.
Originating in India centuries ago, it was played with cowries and dice.
Created by the 13th-century poet-saint, Gyandev, to teach children the Hindu dharma, Mokshapat is also known as Patam or ParamPadam. The ladders represent virtues and the snakes are the vices or evil.
It was the British who renamed the game “Snakes and Ladders”.
