Pallanguzhi is one of the world's oldest mathematical games, often played using a wooden board with two rows of seven pits.
The Equipment: The game uses small seeds (tamarind seeds) or cowrie shells.
The Process: Each pit is filled with five seeds. A player picks up the seeds from one pit and drops one into each following pit in a circular motion. When the player runs out of seeds, they pick up the seeds from the next pit and continue.
The Capture: If the last seed is dropped and the next pit is empty, the player "captures" the seeds in the pit following the empty one.
The Lesson: It teaches rapid mental calculation, memory, and resource management.