The year was 1968. And the match had unique stakes.
Three most powerful tsips (oracles, of sorts) of the time — Geshe Dotey from Haa, Jagathang from Paro, and Tsing Tsing from Shaa — were summoned to support the royal team. The RBG team had none; they were also not allowed to perform rituals.
The match, presided over by the four Lopens of Zhung Dratshang, was set to test the practicality and the power of tsips during the archery match.
The tsips were seated close by the archery range with their crafts and tools. If they proved their supernatural prowess, a brand new jeep each and Nu 2,500 worth of coins awaited them. But then, alongside squatted a bucketful of boiling rice froth, rather ominously. If the tsips failed and the royal team was defeated, the hot froth would be poured down their heads.
Midway through the day, the RBG team sealed the fate of the tsips with a comprehensive thrashing of the royal team. And that’s the story of a bucketful of rice froth on the heads of three powerful tsips. From then on, tsips were not encouraged in the archery tournaments.
However, today, some three decades down the line, and despite the resolution passed by the National Council in 2010 banning motab-tsita-rimdo (astrological predictions and other rituals) during archery matches, the tradition of hiring tsips is still alive. Tsips still play an indispensable role during archery matches. But the whole affair is shrouded in secrecy.
Like any other archery tournament, the ongoing Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Memorial Archery Tournament is no stranger to the tradition of motab-tsita-rimdo.
Every morning, archers refuse to enter the range in fear that the rival archers will cross their entry path following a tsip’s instructions.
An eyewitness points out an instance during one of the semi-finals when a team amassed an unbelievable 20 points within an hour after their tsip showed up at the range in a drunken stupor.
The tradition of invoking protective deities from secluded monastic places while the archers sleep together with their bows and arrows at the altar is still ceremoniously followed.
Sleeping with women or letting them touch the archery equipment are avoided at all cost. The place of invocation is kept a secret to keep the rival tsip from counter invocation. Believe it or not, the fiercest rivalry in olden days went to the extent of serious physical injuries and often cost lives.
One Dendup Tshering believes his father’s poor eyesight and shaky fingers are the result of a tsip’s work. His father Rinchenla was a renowned sharpshooter while in the army.
“Involving tsips and unearthly powers during archery matches is part of our culture,” said 70-year-old Ap Dorji, who stopped plying the trade a decade ago. “The rituals also included warding off misfortunes and we were paid in grains contributed by all the villagers.”
He recollects the magnitude of a tsip’s work having its highs and lows. He says he has heard and witnessed the catastrophic anecdotes believed to be the result of tsips’ works. And yet, he also concedes it all probably could have been a coincidence.
Chodha between the two fiercest rivals used to be the chief battle of tsips during the olden days. Now it is the battle of riches, according to Ap Dorji.
Gyem Tshering, a sponsor and player in team Druk Chapcha Construction, one of the finalists of the ongoing Jigme Dorji Wangchuck Memorial Archery Tournament, said his team follows Khandugi Jhulam—the movement of the dakinis in specific direction which varies daily.
But every night in some part of Thimphu, archers remain awake the entire night performing rituals, hurling curses at the fire, and invoking the blessings of their deities. And this tradition of invoking unearthly powers for victory is said to be creeping into other games like football and basketball.
Bhutan Archery Federation prohibits such practice.
“If anything suspicious occurs on the range or if the opposing team complains with proof, then we act,” said Jurmin Wangdi, the assistant secretary general of traditional archery.
Source: Bhutan Observer.
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