A workshop in Moratuwa, turning halmilla, jak and lac since 2009

Three boards the island never put down.

Carrom on a Sunday veranda. Pancha at new year, six shells thrown onto a coconut husk. Olinda in a grandmother's lap, four seeds to a cup. We build all three to the measurements they were built to before plywood — and all three are sitting on the mat below, ready to play.

Playable three-dimensional Sri Lankan game board on a reed mat.

Keyboard: on carrom, left and right arrows slide the striker, up and down set the power, and space shoots. On pancha keliya, space throws the cowries. On olinda keliya, left and right arrows choose a cup and space sows it. The running score and the last thing that happened are read out below.

Finish

Waking up the table…

The rest of the workshop

How the three games are played, the ten finishes, how a board is turned and lacquered, and the two days in April when all of it comes out at once.

The boards What each game actually is: the rules, the pieces and the measurements they are cut to. Ten finishes Five patterned in lac and five carved by hand, each one painted for all three boards. How they're made Turned on a lathe, coloured with lac while the wood still spins, then carved. Avurudu The new year, and the one fixed date in the calendar of all three games.

The shop

Build the one you want, and watch it change.

Pick a board, pick one of the ten finishes, choose what goes in the box — and the board turns in front of you as you go. Prices in Sri Lankan rupees; shipping quoted when we pack it.

Build your board

We finish about forty boards a month.

One note when a batch comes off the bench, and one in March about new year orders. Nothing else.