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

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.