NATIONAL SPORTS
Archery, the national sport is played practically all year. Being a vital part of all festivities, it is usually accompanied by a banquet. Spectators marvel at the dexterity of the Bhutanese and gasp at other members of a team who stand close to the target and sidestep the flying arrows with amazing speed.

Bows and arrows are made of special kind of bamboos. Two painted wooden targets 30 by 120cms are placed at each end of the range, which measures 120m in length. The targets are used alternately. Two teams of 11 archers compete, each man shooting two arrows. The first team to get 33 points wins the match. There are three sets and the method of scoring is complicated because arrows landing within an arrow’s length of the target also count.

Women are not allowed to touch a bow. The day before an important match, the archers will make offerings to their local deities and will refrain from sleeping at home. The best archers wear multi colored scarves tied to the back of their belts, and each time an arrow hits the bull’s eye a short victory dance is performed by the shooter’s team.

Each team is encouraged by supporters, and “cheer leaders” of women who dance and sing, praising their team while mocking the opponent with bawdy comments to make them lose their concentration.
Western-style archery was introduced in the 1980s and is played by both men and women.

Other traditional favorites:
Dego (played by monks as archery is forbidden for them), involves throwing a stone of a certain weight underhand as close as possible to a small stick driven into the ground.
Pundo, played by laymen, consists of throwing a stone of about 1 kilo as far as possible.
Kuru, a game of darts played outdoors with the target of 20m away.
Soksom, consists of throwing a javelin a distance of 20m.
Keyshey and Sherey are games of strength that pit two men against each other. Keyshey resembles wrestling and Sherey is more like “iron hand”.
Nowadays western sports like football, basket and tennis have found favor with the