The weeklong festival of Kharchi Puja began on Sunday morning at ‘Chodda Devata’ temple, 7 KMs east of Agartala with religious pomp and gaiety. The worship of the 14 Gods and Goddess began after ritual ablution at river Howrah in the morning.

Thousands of devotees from across the state and other parts of the country were assembled in the festival days for the worship of fourteen deities.

Kharchi Puja symbolizes a unique mixture of Hinduism and animism as the 14 Gods and Goddess are identified by both the faiths with different names. The puja is performed by tribal priest ‘Chantai’ and is basically a tribal religious ritual. But at the same time, it is also virtually a Hindu Puja with lakhs of devotees from both the tribal and non-tribal communities thronging and taking part in the religious activities. Kharchi also symbolizes the age-old unity of both tribal and non-tribal people of the state.

 As per the tradition, the week-long festival began with a procession. All deities and priests were escorted by the Tripura Police personnel, who also presented a guard of honour for the chief royal priest ‘Raj Chantai’.  Thousands of devotees joined them en route to Howrah River for the customary bathing or ablution of 14 deities, followed by the sacrifice of 108 animals in the presence of thousands of devotees, all at government expense.

Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha inaugurated the seven-day festival during an inauguration programme at Krishnamala open stage at the erstwhile capital of Tripura, Puran Habeli in presence of other dignitaries.

Dr Manik Saha  addressing the inaugural ceremony  emphasized the importance of educating the new generation about the historical background of the Kharchi Puja and the fourteen deities.

He highlighted that the tradition of this festival will remain elusive if future generations are not informed about its history and background.

 “The culture and tradition of India are the oldest in the world. The new generation should be made aware of the historical background of the Kharchi Puja and the fourteen deity houses. The tradition of this festival will remain elusive if future generations are not informed about its history and background,” he said.

Dr Saha also announced a public holiday on the final day of the Kharchi festival, July 20, to encourage more people to participate in the celebrations.

“When the file of Kharchi Puja came to me, I observed the inauguration day as a holiday on Sunday. Usually, everyone expects such public holidays. So, after talking with officials, I declared the end day of the Kharchi festival, i.e., July 20, as a public holiday so that people can participate in this festival more happily,” he said.

Expressing his happiness to participate in the festival once again, Dr Saha said, “India's art, culture, and traditions are very old. Kharchi Puja is also a traditional festival here. It has a rich history. We worship 14 deities here.”

He reminisced about his childhood, recalling how eagerly he waited for Kharchi Puja despite the challenges of attending it back then.

“At that time, the river was so rapid that it was a matter of fear to cross. We had to cross the river by boat. Many accidents happened then. After returning home from the puja, I felt that I was able to return home safely with the blessings of the fourteen deities. Even going to the Tripura Sundari temple was very difficult then. The state is moving towards massive development. Development has now reached an unimaginable level,” he said.

Dr Saha explained that three of the fourteen deities are worshiped regularly at the temple, and during Kharchi Puja, the rest of the gods and goddesses are also worshiped for seven days.

“We need to inform the next generation of these histories. And we can save this tradition only if we can inform the next generation about the whole history of these,” he added.

The Chief Minister also highlighted the importance of such fairs and cultural traditions in strengthening the bond of unity and brotherhood among the people of the nation.

Other notable attendees included area MLA Ratan Chakraborty, Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, former Minister Rampada Jamatia, Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) and MLA Dipak Majumdar, and MLA Sapna Debbarma and other administrative officials of the state were also present. 

Giving details of the festival, authorities of the festival committee said, above 2000 stalls had been distributed to vendors, small and medium business establishments including those from West Bengal and Assam traders. The festival committee added that massive security arrangements have been made along with voluntary services for the devotees.

Police sources said, large number of security forces along with Traffic personnel and plain clothes police were deployed in the festival area. State police also installed CCTV cameras and watch towers in the festival premises.