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Kuru - Darts In Bhutan.

Here in the West we think of darts as being a sport devised by ourselves, but this is most definitely not true, as, while watching a nature program the other day, I saw some villagers playing a game of darts. You might think that there was nothing unusual in that, but the game of darts was being held outside, amongst jungle huts, in the ancient Himalayan mountain Kingdon, of Bhutan. After some research it seems that although their national sport is archery, Kuru, or darts, is almost as popular amongst the people of this nation of villagers.

The traditional sport of Kuru goes back into the mists of time and is remarkably like our own game of darts, although some of the differences may make you smile.

Firstly, before the competition, while the whole village watches on, the players have a little ceremonial dance on the Oche. The Oche has a “Board” at both ends and after the match the winning team has a victory dance in front of their winning darts. Players are likely to wear a Gho, which is a robe like, traditional male costume and have soft shoes like moccasins on their feet. To add to the atmosphere alcohol is consumed as we would, but it is unlikely to be beer and is more likely to be rice wine. As with pub darts matches in the West, Kuru players can get quite excitable and there is much barracking, but unlike over here it is much more open and encouraged. Although a traditional, old fashioned country, in some ways, family life and male/female relationship roles seem to be more liberated in Bhutan, but this is most definitely not true of Kuru as women are almost never allowed to play!

Taking a cursory look at the darts, they might seem the same as ours, but their wooden barrels with 5 inch metal points hammered into them and feather flights are used quite differently. The target is the size of an orange with the bullseye only about 2 - 3 inches across and painted on a wooden post hammered into the ground. Usually the target is some 20 metres away, but can be anything up to 50 metres away, so the game requires a different style of throwing and a stronger arm than a game of darts would in the West!
I wonder if the mighty Phil Taylor could hit an orange with a dart from 20 metres?