Sports man practising Archery, Thimphu Bhutan. 90801_Bhutan-Archery vertical
Archery is the national sports of Bhutan . Temples and deities are much 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 more appeasements to be done if the fortunes told by the dice are 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. A statue or other artefacts could find themselves reluctant bystanders to the game, covertly stowed away in a place of the team’s are many other strange practices that have become deeply entrenched into the game. For instance, all members of a team have to momentarily renounce the worldly comforts of home. During the course of tournament, all members of the team must shack up together, whether they like it or not. When the tournament is inter-village, a home team remains invisible until the visiting team has entered the ground. And a quick scrutiny of the spectators is almost reflexive, just in case there’s face well reputed for practices beyond the ordinary. For all they know, the person could be redirecting the wind to deflect arrows flying home. These faces are those of Tsips - something like mediums who play the main part. It is them who made it all possible. They are believed to have access to powers beyond mortal imagination. As for delivery, archers have mixed feelings about their prowess. Modern times and broad minds are also gradually chipping away their credibility. The Tsips have been around for as long as the game of archery has been. Bhutan [National sports] archery crossbow Thimphu tinphu thimpu bhutanese boutan bhoutan competition champion [sport national] training practising target skill longbow weapon [bow string] bowhunting [target archery] tsip sacred spell
Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location: Thimphu Stadium Thimphu Bhutan Asia
Photo credit: © Daniel Valla FRPS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: arc, archer, archery, arrow, bhoutan, bhutan, bhutanese, boutan, bow, bowhunting, champion, competition, crossbow, fleche, longbow, power, practising, sacred, skill, spell, sports, target, thimphu, thimpu, tinphu, training, tsip, weapon
