While visiting the Basgo monastery, I heard some drums beating from the village below. Curious, I followed these sounds through some village trails – and chanced upon an annual archery competition taking place.
{Click on any of the images for a larger view}
Sonam Angchok, one of the participants who also works in the local post office, and others were happy to have me in attendance, explaining the event over a cup of tea they were carrying in large thermoses. Villagers are divided into two teams, A and B, and they shoot arrows at a black target with a clay white centre. You get three points for hitting the white area, one for black and another two if you chip any part of the white part. Villagers would come all through the day to shoot with points getting added to their respective team’s tally. The winning team gets a token Rs. 200 (US$ 4) award.
The tradition goes back to long before one of the 80 year old participant was even born. The bamboo arrows had a metal head for effective piercing of the target, with feathers at the other end to identify the owners. My attempt to shoot these only resulted in duds. Most participants do not have the time to practice at all though. However, as Sonam pointed out, the old and the young have all the time to practice giving them an advantage. They also go around participating in similar events in other villages; fields require only watering in the early summer and everyone has time for the fun.
Women are not allowed to participate but they join in for the evening celebrations of local dances, music, food and a fair. The game has no religious or hunting origins though.
