Mukha: may the odds be ever in your favour
Game still holds great meaning even after 150 years
A man plays the game. PHOTO: EXPRESS
PESHAWAR:
There is pin-drop silence as thousands hold their breath, along with the mukhawal, as he takes his aim at the takai, a white wooden target surrounded by a circle in a mud—some 32 feet away.
One knee on the ground, the mukhawal sits and tries to gather his breath before shooting a long, wooden rod tipped with an iron plate towards the takai. Just as the shot is being taken, the silence is broken with high-noted drumbeats and the game begins.
Mukha is a 150-year-old sport which is akin to archery. It is the favourite game in some districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Swabi and Mardan. People usually gather in a ground to see a Mukha match between two villages.
At least 10 players from each village participate as the mukhawal aims at his target with a five-foot long slingshot, known as a leenda or bajori in the local language. It is usually made with the horns of a markhor in Bajawarh and costs somewhere between Rs20,000 and Rs30,000.
The leenda shoots the target with seven-foot long wooden spears called ghashay. The spear has a saucer-shaped metallic plate called tubray at its distal end.
“It is important to hold your breath before shooting the target otherwise there are chances of missing,” Abdul Qadeem Khan, a mukha expert from Baam Khel village, tells The Express Tribune. “When the archer shoots at the target and the ghashay lands in close proximity of the takai, two referees check it thoroughly before declaring a result. We play the game with respect as it is the sport of our [ancestors] and reminds us of the bravery of the warriors from the region.”
Another player, while practising, tells The Express Tribune a lot of strength is needed as an ordinary person cannot pull the rubber of the slingshot.
“We practise it [throughout our] childhood and then 10 people from the whole village get selected to participate,” he says. “It is a matter of pride when one is selected to play this centuries-old game.”
The sport festival is mostly held in spring for 10 consecutive days and organising such an event costs about Rs0.3 million as the spectators are served the best traditional food. Winners are declared on the last day after the tabulation of daily successful shots.
“We all gather in a ground and arrange drummers with dancers,” Sufyan reveals, a member of the mukha management committee. “When a mukhawal hits the target, the drum beats in the background and there is dancing. At the moment, the sport is just limited to K-P.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2016.
There is pin-drop silence as thousands hold their breath, along with the mukhawal, as he takes his aim at the takai, a white wooden target surrounded by a circle in a mud—some 32 feet away.
One knee on the ground, the mukhawal sits and tries to gather his breath before shooting a long, wooden rod tipped with an iron plate towards the takai. Just as the shot is being taken, the silence is broken with high-noted drumbeats and the game begins.
Mukha is a 150-year-old sport which is akin to archery. It is the favourite game in some districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Swabi and Mardan. People usually gather in a ground to see a Mukha match between two villages.
At least 10 players from each village participate as the mukhawal aims at his target with a five-foot long slingshot, known as a leenda or bajori in the local language. It is usually made with the horns of a markhor in Bajawarh and costs somewhere between Rs20,000 and Rs30,000.
The leenda shoots the target with seven-foot long wooden spears called ghashay. The spear has a saucer-shaped metallic plate called tubray at its distal end.
“It is important to hold your breath before shooting the target otherwise there are chances of missing,” Abdul Qadeem Khan, a mukha expert from Baam Khel village, tells The Express Tribune. “When the archer shoots at the target and the ghashay lands in close proximity of the takai, two referees check it thoroughly before declaring a result. We play the game with respect as it is the sport of our [ancestors] and reminds us of the bravery of the warriors from the region.”
Another player, while practising, tells The Express Tribune a lot of strength is needed as an ordinary person cannot pull the rubber of the slingshot.
“We practise it [throughout our] childhood and then 10 people from the whole village get selected to participate,” he says. “It is a matter of pride when one is selected to play this centuries-old game.”
The sport festival is mostly held in spring for 10 consecutive days and organising such an event costs about Rs0.3 million as the spectators are served the best traditional food. Winners are declared on the last day after the tabulation of daily successful shots.
“We all gather in a ground and arrange drummers with dancers,” Sufyan reveals, a member of the mukha management committee. “When a mukhawal hits the target, the drum beats in the background and there is dancing. At the moment, the sport is just limited to K-P.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2016.