The Origins of the game Snakes and Ladders

​The 13th century poet saint Gyandev created a children's game called Moksha Patam. The British later named it Snakes and Ladders & diluted the entire knowledge - instead of the original Moksha Patam.
In the original one hundred square game board, the 12th square was faith, the 51st square was reliability, the 57th square was generosity, the 76th square was knowledge, and the 78th square was asceticism. These were the squares where the ladders were found and one could move ahead faster. The 41st square was for disobedience, the 44th square for arrogance, the 49th square for vulgarity, the 52nd square for theft, the 58th square for lying, the 62nd square for drunkenness, the 69th square for debt, the 84th square for anger, the 92nd square for greed, the 95th square for pride, the 73rd square for murder and the 99th square for lust. These were the squares where the snake waited with its mouth open. The 100th square represented Nirvana or Moksha.The tops of each ladder depict a God, or one of the various heavens (kailasa, vaikuntha, brahmaloka) and so on. As the game progressed various actions were supposed to take you up and down the board as in life...
Though we had played this game during our childhood, like myself, many of us may not be knowing about the very important lessons of life which can be learnt by the children while playing this game.
Britishers had destroyed not only Sanskrit but also Hindu beliefs in many ways. After capturing power, the main agenda of the British was looting India of its wealth and spreading Christianity throughout the country by destroying Hindu beliefs and customs. (Source:  Virtual Museum of T&T Octob 8, 2021)