Bhutan Sports
The Bhutanese are a sport loving people who have a long tradition of holding organized competitions in indigenously developed sports like Archery, Degor and Khuru. Wrestling bouts and sporting activities like jumping, marathon running, climbing and shows of strength like lifting and throwing weights and breaking wooden objects are quite common. Archery the national sport of Bhutan is the most popular sport that is keenly patronized by all sections of Bhutanese society, irrespective of their age or status. The form of archery played here is quite distinct in characteristics from other variations of the sport adopted elsewhere.
Unique features of a typical archery match in Bhutan
It is contested by two teams each comprising of 11 members each on a range measuring approximately 120 m multicolored flat board about 3 feet in height that serve as targets, are propped up on the ground on each end of the range. The archers cluster at a time at each end and take turns to shoot a couple of arrows each aiming to hit the target at the other end. Whichever team gains 33 hits first is declared the winner. Most archery matches are followed by a banquet hosted in honour of the winning side by the losers. The women folk too make their presence felt by singing and dancing along side in order to cheer up the morale of the team they support. Khuru is another dart like game played outdoors similar to archery where the targets are placed around 20 feet apart. Degor is another traditional sport that involves throwing a round flat stone of a certain weight thrown by the hand in which the hand does not rise above the shoulders. To get it as close as possible to a small stick driven into the ground.
