A 12-year-old from Bengaluru has created a treasure hunt board game set in the famously opulent Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
Called Treasures of Thiruvananthapuram, it challenges players to unlock six treasure vaults inside the temple. In real life too, the temple holds riches worth trillions of dollars locked up in six vaults.
Five of these were opened following a court intervention in 2011, while ‘Vault B’ remains locked and shrouded in mystery. Legend has it that opening it will invite God’s wrath.
“But in this game, you are allowed to open ‘Vault B’. It has the maximum treasure, worth six billion dollars. So it is also the most difficult to crack open,” says Ishaan PA, a Class 6 student of Ekya School, JP Nagar.
Ishaan got the idea of making this family game last July. “The temple was in the news. I started researching its history,” he says.
His parents roped in friends to design and publish the game. Neighbours tested it. The family spent a little over Rs1.5 lakh to print 300 boxes of the game. They have sold 80 boxes to family, friends and acquaintances so far, they told Metrolife. “We hope to present this game to the priests of the temple someday,” says his mother Sowmya Sri.
The game is priced at Rs 1,299 and available on gameaddictx.com