On a mission to popularise Kerala’s wooden puzzle toy Edakoodam

K.P. Hariprasad is on a mission to popularise the wooden puzzle by teaching the art of making and solving Edakoodam popular among children and adults

Hariprasad with Edakoodam.  | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Edakoodam, a wooden puzzle toy was much popular among children and used to be part of every household in Kerala. But with the advent of computer games and 3D combination puzzle-like Rubik’s cube, Edakoodam lost its sheen.

However, 23-year-old K.P. Hariprasad of Alanthata in Kayyur is on a mission to popularise the wooden puzzle by teaching the art of making and solving Edakoodam popular among children and adults.

A complicated puzzle like Rubik’s cube, Edakoodam is made of wooden blocks, which once dismantled can be assembled only by applying some mathematical and analytical skills.

While his collection has more than 50 models, the smallest is just 1 millimeter. He is currently working on the world’s largest puzzle model, which can be solved by connecting 2,700 wooden pieces.

“The work is in the preparatory stage and once completed I wish to etch my name in the Guinness Book of World Records,” Mr. Hariprasad said.

It was Hariprasad’s grandfather, who instilled an interest in Edakoodam by giving him one to solve when he was very young. He learned to solve them quickly.

“Time would just fly when I sat to solve the puzzle and the joy of solving is unexplainable,” he said. However, there were not many who made the wood puzzle and finding one in the market was next to impossible, said Mr. Hariprasad, who is a diploma holder in electronic, as well as oil and gas engineering.

It was during his school days that he started to learn the basics of carpentry and worked on improving his skills from his father, who is a carpenter. Over the period, he went on to win five times the Kerala State School Science Fair in Carpentry. His carpentry skill came in handy when his interest in Edakoodam was rekindled when he saw about it on social media. He was by then doing his diploma course in electronics.

“My first thought was to make it myself as there were not many people who made it,” he said. It took him a few months to make. But it was sheer joy on completing the first model, he said. Now he has over 50 Edakoodam, which are unique and requires real genius mind to solve.

Making Edakoodam not an easy task

Mr. Hariprasad said making Edakoodam is never easy as it requires a lot of work like planning, designing, drawing and various other steps to complete a single work. As it is hand-made, different pieces have to be joined together to give it different shapes. Any small error in calculation will ruin the whole work, he added.

However, he has taken the task of reviving and making the wooden puzzle popular. He has been showcasing it in various exhibitions and encouraging the children in schools and colleges to solve the puzzle by organising programmes.

Children are more addicted to video games and it has its own problem both physically and mentally. But, Edakoodam is a solution that will not just sharpen their minds, but also improve their analytical skills and keep them mentally fresh, he added.