How to play
Board. Five by five squares. The middle square of each side is a player's home and a safe square, marked with a flower; so is the centre, the chauka.
Throwing. Four cowries are thrown. Count the shells that land mouth up: one, two or three moves that many squares; four is a chowka, moving four; none up is a bara, moving eight. A chowka or a bara earns another throw.
Entering. All four pawns start off the board. A throw of 1, 4 or 8 may be used to bring one pawn onto your home square instead of moving.
The path. From home a pawn runs anticlockwise around the outer ring, back through its own home, then steps inward and runs clockwise around the inner ring, and finally into the centre. The centre must be reached by an exact throw.
Capturing. Landing on an enemy pawn sends it back off the board and earns another throw, except on the safe squares, where pawns of any colour may share.
Winning. The first player to bring all four pawns into the centre wins.