KOCHI: The word ‘Edakoodam’ is much familiar to Malayalees. However, many do not know that it originated from a puzzle game known as ‘Edakoodam’. There used to be a time when children in every household used to play with this. Before the advancement of technology, children were encouraged to play with these toys made from wood, which also helped improve their concentration.
The wooden puzzles ‘Edakoodam’ is once again making a comeback thanks to Manoharan from Haripad, Alappuzha. A traditional carpenter and contract worker, he started making Edakoodam some ten years back.
For Manoharan, making these Edakoodams began as a coincidence. “I had a friend whose father used to make these type of wooden artworks and puzzles,” the puzzle expert says. “Once on my visit to his house, I saw him making the wooden puzzles. When I tried my hand in it, I realised that it is a tough interlocking game consisting of notched sticks.”
An alternative to the Rubik’s Cube, this wooden puzzle has properties of increasing memory and has the additional quality of being eco-friendly. Manoharan has made different varieties of puzzles in different shapes and sizes. This where he takes the centre stage. Each of the puzzles is made with extra care so that they don’t lose their symmetry. This is why they never lose their interlocking properties. “I used to experiment and research a lot with these puzzles,” he says. “Observing and doing it is not that helpful. We learn more about it only when we practise.”
For this wooden puzzle maker, puzzle is more than a passion. He is on a mission to bring these wooden playmates back to life for the future generation and to reduce the amount of plastic waste accumulated because of using plastic toys.
Talking about the time required to make one puzzle, the artisan says, “It takes one to seven days to make a puzzle. As it is hand-made, different pieces have to be joined together to give it different shapes. The puzzle ‘Saraswatipedom’, where one part could be divided into four, is the most difficult for me. It took me around seven days to complete.”Manoharan’s designs consists of three to 25 interlocking pieces. Currently, he is working on a new puzzle model which will be made in a single wood piece and can be divided. Besides this, he also gives lessons to people who want to learn the trick behind unwinding the puzzle.