Ancient mancala · Karnataka & South IndiaAli Guli Mane
The 14-cup counting game
Carved into the stone floors of temples and played on wooden boards worn smooth by generations of hands. Ali Guli Mane is South India's oldest mancala — pure arithmetic, no dice, no luck.
Sow seeds, chain harvests, snatch Karu cups. Most seeds in your store wins.
Start: 14 cups, 7 per side, 5 seeds each. Bottom row is yours (P0), top row is your opponent's (P1).
The battlefield14 cups. Two sides. No dice.
Ali Guli Mane is a mancala — a counting and capturing game played across South India for centuries. No dice, no luck. Just seeds, cups, and the arithmetic of distribution.
Each player controls 7 cups on their own side. Every cup starts with 5 seeds. Your store (on your left) begins empty — fill it faster than your opponent to win.
Your side
7 cups on the bottom row
Your goal
Collect the most seeds in your store
Columns mirror each other: every cup on the bottom row has a partner directly above it on the top row. That pairing is the secret behind the harvest rule you will learn shortly.