If you walk through Police Bazar in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, you will see many small stalls selling lottery tickets. Each stall looks different, but they all have two things in common: a small blackboard with numbers written on it hanging outside, and they are all selling tickets for the archery competition that happens every afternoon.
If you go to one of these counters, the sellers will casually ask if you have picked a number and how much you want to bet. For beginners, it might be a bit confusing, but this is how Teer Betting works in the middle of Shillong’s busiest shopping area.
What is Teer betting?
Archery is a traditional sport played with an arrow, called ‘teer’ in Hindi. In Shillong, ‘teer’ is also a betting game where people can win thousands of rupees in one afternoon.
The game has simple rules. There are 50 archers, each shooting 30 arrows at a target. You have to guess the last two digits of the total number of arrows that hit the target. For example, if 950 arrows hit the target, the winning number is 50. If you guess the number correctly, you win all the money that the stall earned from selling lottery tickets that day! This happens every day.
The history of teer
Archery has been a traditional sport of the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya for many years. This sport has old roots in the community and many popular stories explain how it began. One story says that archery was a gift from the gods to the Khasis. Because of this, the sport is seen as holy. It was given to the local Reigning Goddess, who then gave the holy bow and arrows to her sons. This has been passed down to young boys through the generations.
Today, young Khasi boys start learning archery at a young age and become very good at it as they grow up. When a boy is born, a bow and three arrows are placed on his forehead during his naming ceremony. The same bow is buried with him when he dies, and the arrows are shot into the air to guide his soul to heaven. The bow is kept safely in the boy’s house throughout his life.
Betting on archery, however, didn’t start until the 20th century. There is no exact record of when it began. Betting continued for a few decades until it was banned by the state government in the 1970s. The game was still played illegally in some parts of Shillong until the government of Meghalaya made it legal again in 1982. Now, it is controlled by the Meghalaya Amusements and Betting Tax (Amendment) Act 1982.
Also check :- Today’s Shillong Teer Results
It provides jobs and livelihood
Shillong is said to be the most popular place for teer betting, but it happens all over Meghalaya. There are no official numbers, but a report by The Quint says there are more than 5,000 teer counters in the state. The betting gives jobs to over 10,000 people, mainly ticket sellers and archery counter operators.
The same report from The Quint says that ticket sellers and operators make between Rs 350 and Rs 500 a day, while the archers get between Rs 250 and Rs 300 a day. Locals say that many families rely on teer betting for their livelihood. However, it is the counter owners and bookies who make the most money.
The daily routine
People bet every day, buying lottery tickets from 10 am to 3:30 pm, and they bet on numbers from 0 to 99. At 3:30, the betting moves from the market streets to the Khasi Hills Archery Sports Association.
The crowd becomes quiet as the archers get ready to shoot, which starts a little after 3:30. As mentioned before, 50 archers with 30 arrows each begin shooting. After the last arrow is shot, the target is covered, and the counting starts.
A second round takes place at 4.30pm when the archers shoot 20 arrows each.
The winner gets it all
Every day, two results are given – one after the first round and one after the second round. Normally, if someone guesses the correct number for one round, they can earn up to Rs 80 for every Rs 1 they invested. But if someone guesses the correct numbers for both rounds on the same day, they can earn Rs 4,000 for every Rs 1 they invested.
But there’s a dark side too
Even though Teer Betting is important for Meghalaya’s economy and gives jobs to over 10,000 people, it is still a form of gambling. If you talk to locals, you’ll find many have lost their life savings betting on teers.
Another problem is that the workers who handle daily activities earn very little, depending on the day’s sales. The big money goes to the organizers and counter owners.
Also You Can Check:–Shillong Dream Number
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