How to play
The pack. One hundred and twenty round cards in ten suits, one for each avatar of Vishnu: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Balarama, Buddha and Kalki. Each suit has a Raja, a Pradhan (minister) and pip cards one to ten.
Ranking. The Raja is highest, then the Pradhan. In the five strong suits (Matsya to Vamana) the pips run one high to ten low; in the five weak suits (Parashurama to Kalki) they run ten high to one low.
Deal and trump. The whole pack is dealt out to three players, forty cards each. Rama is trump by day and the Krishna suit, Balarama in this pack, by night. The holder of the Raja of trumps leads to the first trick.
Tricks. Follow the suit led if you can; otherwise play anything. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick unless a trump was played, in which case the highest trump wins. The winner leads next.
Scoring. Most tricks after the agreed number of deals wins the match.
Some traditions allow leading several consecutive cards at once; this version plays one card per trick.