ARCHERY - MYBHUTAN - Bhutan

A photo essay on Bhutan’s national sport on behalf of MyBhutan.

For centuries archery has been a national obsession and it is woven into the social fabric of Bhutanese culture. Every village sports at least one archery ground & traditional tournaments between villages are battles for honour, as winning brings good luck to the entire village. As with so many aspects of Bhutanese life, the sport is under a lot of pressure from modernisation. The younger generations are being drawn into the less traditional sports of basketball & football and those that do participate, now use modern fibreglass compact bows, rather than the traditional bamboo bows and arrows.