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Bhutan's Sports Archery |
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Bhutan's Sports Archery |
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Archery
- Bhutan's National Sport
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Archery tournament
| Archery
is the national sport of Bhutan, and every village has it own archery range.
High spirited competitions, usually accompanied by a banquet, are a part
of all festive occasions. Using bamboo bows (although modern compound bows
are finding their way into the kingdom) teams of archers shoot at targets
only 30 centimetres in diameter from a distance of 120 metres. Each team
has a noisy crowd of supporters who, as well as encouraging their own side
and try to out off the opposition. |
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The
game of archery is not exactly a sport that draws frenzied supporters out
for a kill. There are no die-hard fans and no follow-the-team-to-kingdom-come
fanatics. And no streaking hooligans.
If
anyone is all pumped up, it is the archers themselves... To the Bhutanese,
it's a tourist sport and a very saleable one at that too. It has tremendous
tourist appeal. Archery is tradition; it's songs and dances and jeers and
near-primitive howls. It's the works to someone seeking the unusual. All
that could be just a facade.
Under
the surface, and away from the real game, there's plenty a foot. More than
a tourist could ever imagine and some locals too.
Every
time a major archery tournament is on, be it in the village or at the capital,
strange things are happening. Perfectly sane, and often well placed men,
are doing things that would otherwise have been dubbed completely insane.
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Archery tournament (Photo: Kuensel Online, Bhutan)
Like
everything else, the other side of archery begins with God. Every time
a tournament is under way, there are suddenly silent, unassuming, sentinels
at every sacred place. One archer can't quite forget his moment of triumph,
even though it was not in the real game, and still gets ecstatic every
time he regales listeners with the story.
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Temples
and deities are much, or most, sought during tournaments. Archers say the
simplest short cut to victory is appeasing your protectors and carrying
to the game a piece of anything blessed by the deities.
After
the oblations, of wine and money, a roll of the dice is a must. There are,
after all, more appeasements to be done if the fortunes told by the dice
are bad. Divine intervention, albeit forbidden by the National Archery
Federation of Bhutan now, is still much solicited. There have also been
many instances when a little coercion is exercised.
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statue or other artefacts could find themselves reluctant bystanders to
the game, covertly stowed away in a place of the team's choice.
There
are many other strange practices that have become deeply entrenched into
the game. |
During
the course of tournament, all members of the team must shack up together,
whether they like it or not. |
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These
have become almost matter-of-fact. For instance, all members of a team
have to momentarily renounce the worldly comforts of home, wife included.
Vehicles
and equipment are zealously guarded lest they be defiled by the opponent
or touched by a jinx. The stars, or astrological charts are consulted.
They dictate time and direction, often culminating in a team very casually
strolling into the field, sideways or merely going AWOL until the eleventh
hour. And it's not just the archers, the vehicles too are parked facing
the same direction.
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| This
article was contributed by KUENSEL, Bhutan's National Newspaper |
| Information on Bhutan |
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