AGARTALA, June 20 (TIWN): Preparation on peak for Kharchi Puja at Old Agartala’s Chaturdash Devta temple.

Kharchi puja this year will be celebrated on July 10.

Kharchi Puja is an important festival celebrated in the Indian state of Tripura.

The holiday is observed on the Shukla Paksha Ashtami (eighth lunar day) day in the month of Ashad, which usually means it takes place in July.

The festival lasts for seven days and 14 gods are worshipped at the Chaturdasha temple near Old Agartala. The 14 deities are known as the Chaturdasha Devata and are Lord Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Kartikeya, Ganesha, Earth, Ganga, Agni, Kama, Himavan and Varuna.

On Kharchi Puja, the gods are taken out from the temple and carried to be washed in holy water from a stream then taken back to the temple.

Kharchi is derived from ‘khya’ which means ‘earth’ and the festival marks the cleansing of Ama Pechi which is the female cycle of the earth godess. During the festival no ploughing, furrowing or tending to the soil is done to give it time to cleanse.

Despite the weeklong festival, the public holiday observed is only on one day. The festival of Ker Puja takes place in Tripura two weeks after Kharchi Puja.