Dhangadi, December 4

Bhuwa game, an annual event popular in Sudurpaschim Province, has kicked off in Doti.

The game, meant to preserve ancient warfare skills, is played for five to seven days, from the third week of Mangshir (the eighth month of the Bikram calendar).

This year, the game started from Bagathata village of Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality today. “The game will be played for five to seven days,” said ward Chair Madan Bhandari, adding that the tradition of the game was started by a king of Doti in the past.

“The game is essentially about practising warfare skills required in a battlefield. And it’s the same warfare skills of yore that have come to assume the form of a game in the present time,” said Jit Bahadur Khadka, a local of Dipayal.

The persons participating in the game don traditional costumes and wield naked swords. “Formally, the game starts from Bijaya Dashami by blowing a traditional

musical instrument in Silgadhi’s Kaldhunga, but the game is played from Mangshir, said a local.