Way of the Bow archery festival in Thiruvananthapuram from January 30

The origins of the Way of the Bow festival can be traced back to 16 years, when Pravin Ramachandran, vice president of the Indo-Vedic Traditional Archery Association (ITAA), approached members of tribes across Kerala, such as the Kurichiya, Kani, and Kuruma, as well as the Khasi tribe in the North East, to learn traditional archery. The three-day festival, which begins on January 30 at Prakirtheeyam at Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram, celebrates the waning practice of traditional archery. It is curated by Gadha Suresh of the cultural collective, Two by Three.

“The festival is about establishing traditional archery as a mainstream sport, entertainment medium and seeing it with a meditative approach,” says Pravin. “It is part of a vanishing heritage. When we talk about archery, we only consider modern archery, which is taken from foreign countries. We have a traditional archery culture that is at risk of getting extinct and may remain only in the annals of history.”

At Way of the Bow festival, competitions will be held in three categories —cultural traditional archers, traditional-inspired/shelf/hunting and tribal archers. The challenges will utilise 3D archery, where the participants must hit targets from 35 yards as opposed to the 75 yards in modern archery. However, the targets will be moving to simulate the conditions of a hunting expedition, which makes the shooting difficult.

Over 30 participants are expected to attend the festival, which includes 17 Indo-Vedic archers, 10 from the Kani tribe (they use slings and stones instead of bows) and seven modern archers.

“Modern archery participants resemble sniper shooters with their emphasis on accuracy. Everything in modern archery, such as stabilisers, is about ensuring that you have a fixed target. That is perfect target practice. Traditional archery is more dynamic. You learn to shoot with both arms, because apart from being a hunting tool, it is also part of warfare. It is also very situational,” says Pravin.

The fete includes a Kalari demonstration by S Mahesh Gurukkal of Agasthyam Kalari and mace-wielding by Sandeep Vijay Nair. Other events, such as archery workshops, discussions, and cultural programmes, will be featured at the festival.

Reviving a lost art

“The disappearance of traditional archery is often attributed to the decline of hunting. However, the festival aims to pivot it from hunting to a sports category,” says Pravin. The festival attempts to do this through 3D archery. “You are still hunting but not hurting anything. This creates possibilities for environmentally friendly and sustainable archery-related tourism.”

Pravin says, “The Indian Archery Association once wanted to introduce archery in schools, but the reality is that modern archery is expensive. If we can introduce traditional archery instead, it will be easier, cheaper, and can become an industry surrounding the making of equipment.”

At the festival the participants can use their own bows that do not have arrow rests, stabilisers, sights, clickers, or compounds. Only wooden or bamboo arrows are allowed. They are required to wear traditional attire and quivers.

The festival is on from January 30 to February 1 at Prakirtheeyam at Nedumangad, Thiruvananthapuram. A single-day pass is priced at ₹299 and three-day pass is ₹799. The tickets can be booked on wayofthebowfestival.com