Feature
Mahashivratri festivities begin here and will continue for a week… Know this place
A day after celebrations ended in other northern states, Mahashivratri festivities, unique to this Himachal Pradesh town that will continue for a week, began on Thursday amidst a gathering of over 200 hill gods and goddesses.
The festival is celebrated with a difference in this historical town, popularly known as Chhoti Kashi.
Like the week-long Kullu Dussehra festivities, Mandi’s Mahashivratri sees a congregation of the divine and the temporal.
The deities that are venerated in temples dotted across the region are brought here for the celebrations in beautifully decorated palanquins.
Deity Kamrunag, the main guest, reached the town on Tuesday along with hundreds of his devotees in a colourful procession amid sounds of trumpets and drums.
The festival dates back to 1526, when this town, known for its ancient temples, was founded during the rule of Ajbar Sen.
Ajbar Sen invited local deities to mark the founding of the new town, and setting a precedent that is still followed.
“Over 200 deities have been extended invitation for the Mahashivratri festival.
Most of them have reached here and will stay till the festival concludes on February 21,” Deputy Commissioner Rugved Thakur, chief organiser of the festival, told IANS.
Mandi, on the Chandigarh-Manali national highway, is dotted with more than 80 temples built in typical hill architecture.
The prominent temples here are those of Bhutnath, Triloki Nath, Jagannath, Tarna Devi and Jalpa Devi.
The rulers of Mandi state were devotees of Lord Shiva.
Legend has it that Sen (1499-1534) saw in his dream a cow offering milk to an idol of Lord Shiva. His dream became reality, because, according to legend, he actually once saw a cow make a milk offering to an idol.
That was when the ruler constructed a temple in 1526 — the Bhutnath temple — dedicated to Lord Shiva.
The foundation of Mandi town was laid at the same time, and Sen later shifted his capital here.
The tradition has continued even after the rule of princely states came to an end. The administration also offers an honorarium to the “kardars” (attendants of deities) for participating in the festival.
During the first day of the fair, Lord Madho Rai, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the chief deity, leads the procession.
The assembled deities follow him in beautifully decorated palanquins, as per protocol, and assemble at the Bhutnath temple.
Three such processions, called Jaleb, would be taken out on the opening, middle and concluding days of the fair.
Every year the festival attracts scores of tourists, especially foreigners, besides many researchers who study the gods and goddesses.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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