In the North Eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, Diwali means one thing only – its time to play Jhandi Munda. For 3 days, the people are allowed to gamble legally on this traditional dice game.
And gamble they do – often cashing in physical assets for liquid cash just to satisfy their craving
Jhandi Munda operators were given a permit for three days from the district authorities with the revenue collected from the gambling license fees going to the government exchequer.
"This has been a practice since ages and we are still continuing with the tradition of allowing operators to set up Jhandi Munda stalls during Diwali and also in some places on every Sunday and local holidays," a government spokesperson said.
Locals say people come with thousands of rupees for gambling during the three days with many of them returning home with their wallets empty.
Read Article: Where gambling is legal and wallets are empty