Hundreds of archers take part in Sleman 'jemparingan' competition

More than 200 people from various regions in Java participated in a jemparingan (traditional archery) competition held at Lapangan Pemda Sleman on Thursday as part of Sleman regency's 102nd anniversary celebrations.

"The number of participants increased this year from last year, which saw the participation of 213 archers," said the competition's committee head, Murjani, as quoted by Antara.

During the competition, participants were given the opportunity to launch an arrow four times in each of the five archery sessions.

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"Unlike regular archery, jemparingan requires participants to don traditional Javanese attire," said Murjani.

The archers used a traditional arrow known as gandhewa and sat cross-legged while aiming for the target called bandhulan.

"Hopefully this activity can help boost people’s affection for our culture," said Sleman Regent Sri Purnomo, who attended the opening of the competition, which was marked by the release of pigeons. (kes)