Vimanam is often described as "traditional" but I haven't been able to track down any specifics about its history. It certainly looks like it could be many generations old.
As a 2-player race game, however, it does work. All the usual aspects are here: sending opposing pieces back, specific rolls to start your pawns, safe spaces, and bearing off at the end. One pawn per space is a bit unusual for a game with more than one piece per player, but I like it. The shape of the board seems quite random, too, but the five-space sections are consistent and make counting moves easy. I haven't tried the "team play" idea - not sure how that would work actually - but have seen it referred to in a few sources.
It's fast and easy, and making a board is not a huge challenge if you want to tackle it. I haven't seen any for sale on line, but there are plenty of patterns.
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