King in the game of Bhatukali

The collection of over 1,500 miniature household utensils of 64-year-old Vilas Narayan Karandikar is sure to stir those sepia-tinted memories of playing bhatukali — the traditional Indian homespun children play.

The collection includes copper, bronze, silver, stone, clay utensils and other useful household stuff like miniature pata-varvanta, khal-batta (mortar pestle) and jate (grinding stone), which have gone into oblivion in today’s age of electronically run kitchen equipment.

Karandikar also has a collection of around 40 household games played by children and elders to pass time. Some of these games are saripat, ganjifa and viti-dandu. Karandikar, who plays with his four-year old grand daughter Isha, has been exhibiting his collection for the last 20 years across Maharashtra. He was invited by the Brihanmaharashtra Mandal to exhibit his collection in the US.

Showing off his treasure of bhatukali, Karandiar said thaki — a wooden doll was the essence of childhood. “The new Barbie dolls have outdated thaki, which used to be the only indigenous doll displaying traditional features of a Maharashtrian girl.” 
Explaining the motive of the play with miniature utensils, he said, “Through this game, children used to imitate their elders. In a way, they used to get trained for their future.”

Bhatukali is a play especially for the girls. It is a set of cooking utensils in a small size. The reference to bhatukali is found in Dnyaneshwari written by the 12th century Marathi Sant Dnyaneshwar.

Karandikar’s collection includes utensils like, hand pump, bumb (water heater), ghangale, kamandalu, kalshi (pitcher), parat and sup.

A retired man, Karandikar began collecting these items from 1990. “We decided to install a swing while renovating our house of four generation in Shukarawar Peth. I was looking for chains and flowers made of bronze to fix it and went to Rameshwar Chowk, where I found a treasure of bhatukali and that was the beginning of my hobby,” he said. He then started visitng marketplaces like Tambat Ali, Juna Bazaar and other places in the city where this kind of utensils are sold. His collection has found a place in the Limca Book of World Records and have received appreciation from the Guinness Book of World Records too.

Karandikar said, “This is not just bhatukali but also it is a history of utensils, games, Marathi culture and our rich tradition”.
He has organised over 150 exhibitions of his collection.