AGARTALA, July 7 (TIWN):Of the many festivals in the hilly northeast Indian state Tripura, the worship of Fourteen Gods popularly known as Kharchi Puja occupies the pride of the place. Every year it is celebrated with overflowing enthusiasm in June-July. In fact, Tripura is also known as the land of Fourteen Gods. The genesis of the festival according to the Sri Rajmala, a Bengali chronicle of the Royal House of Tripura the Manikya Dynasty which ruled Tripura for around 500 years (1458-1947) is that— the king Tripur was extremely inimical and crude and so Shiva, the Hindu god of destroyer, killed him for his irreligious habit.

 Later, Harabati the widow of Tripur gave birth to Trilochan with the blessings of Shiva, who then was a successor of Tripur.  It was Trilochan who brought the fourteen deities and established a temple for worship. Still another legend says that once mother of King Trilochan went to bathe in the river Maharani in south Tripura. The fourteen Gods were at the same time chased by a wild buffalo as a result of which they took shelter on a silk cotton tree. The Gods took her help to kill the beast. Maharaja Trilochan's mother acted timely and the fourteen Gods were saved. Happy over the act, the fourteen Gods came to the palace, then at Udaipur and they were worshipped since then by the royal family. The wild buffalo was also sacrificed which became a tradition.

Later during the reign of Maharaja Krishna Manikya with the change of his capital from Udaipur to Puran Haveli or Old Agartala the Fourteen Gods temple was also constructed there in 1760 AD, which is still there.

As a matter of fact this festival is associated with the indigenous tribal deities but influenced by the Brahmanical Hindus. The original tribal name of the fourteen deities though different but the Brahmanical names are -- Hara or Shiva - the destroyer in the Hindu trinity, Uma or Durga - the consort of Shiva, Hari or Vishnu – the preserver, Maa or Laxmi - the consort of Vishnu and the goddess of prosperity, Vani or Saraswati - the goddess of learning, Kumar or Kartik - the god of war, Ganesha - the god of wisdom, Chandra or the Moon, Brahma - the creator, Abadhi - the God of ocean or water, Ganga- the god of river, Agni- the fire god, Kama- the god of fertility and Himadri or the Himalaya.

The heads were earlier carved out of stone and later Maharaja Kalyan Manikya had them created out of an alloy of eight metals. Initially the images were placed at the Sunderbans in the confluence of river Ganga and the Bay of Bengal. They were later shifted to Rangamati in Tripura and from there to Khayerpur or Puran Haveli, 8 km from state capital Agartala after the construction of the Chaturdasa Devata temple.

The peculiarity of this festival is that although the rituals is performed according to the Hindu rites but in the Hindu religion there is no such god whose body is absent or incomplete or only a particular portion is present yet in this festival only the heads of these deities are worshiped. In fact the broken head image is not supported by the Brahmanical iconography as the object of ritual, however, these fourteen head images have been accepted as the popular deities by the Hindus in Tripura

Again like other Indo-Mongoloid tribes of North East India in Tripura also the majority Tripuri tribe had recognize only one Supernatural supreme power but with their coming under close influences of Hindu way of life, the tribal cults were roughly assimilated to Hinduism by Brahmins (section of the Hindu people who deals with the religious matter) who are said to be brought by the Royal House of Tripura. However, Animism, the primitive form of religion is traceable in the tribal still today who had gradually become Hindu by religion.

In fact a dual arrangement is in vogue. Kharchi Puja though a tribal festival but the deities those worshiped are all of Hindu gods and goddess and remarkably both tribal priest ‘Chantai’ as well as Hindu Brahmin perform the rituals together.

Another special feature of this festival is that these deities are kept locked in a room throughout the year and it is only during these seven days that they are exhibited to the devotees.

On the first day of the week-long festival the deities are brought out from a locked room where the deities are kept for one year. First the state police plays India’s National anthem to pays tribute to the deities then  a procession led by the chief royal priest or the Raj Chantai and followed by other priests bearing bamboo umbrellas on their heads making a peculiar sound ‘ehune’ and thousands of devotees to the nearby river Howrah for bathing them.

Earlier the deities used to be dipped in the river but since one of the deity got washed away (which instead of alloy now has been replaced by a silver image) now they are bathed by collecting water from the river. After bath the procession returns to the temple premises where the deities are worshipped by the royal priest and then taken to a separate room surrounded by iron net so that the devotees can see them during these seven days.

In the past human sacrifices were offered to please the fourteen deities but it was during the reign of one king Maharaja Govinda Manikya, human sacrifices were ceased from the religious rituals of the tribal people of Tripura. After that it became a tradition to sacrifice 108 he-goats on the first day, which is still followed and now it arranged by the state government. However, throughout these seven days thousands of devotees offer sacrifices of he-goats, chickens, pigeons, etc.

The Chief Royal Priest, who still today according to the customs is given a state salute by the state police, as according to the ritual he shall be the king during these seven days of celebration.

In the royal days Kharchi Puja was celebrated within the premises of the palace, for peace and well-being of the kingdom but today with the abolition of the Monarchy, people from all walks of life, tribal and non-tribal celebrate this festival and its popularity is increasing day-by-day.

Visitors who came to witness this unique festival said that Tripura had its own communal conflict in the past between the tribal and non-tribal but now it’s a very peaceful state and such festival helps in restoring peace in this state.

Although Kharchi is essentially a tribal festival yet since it has begun the non-tribal also participate in this festival with equal enthusiasm. Devotees from all classes, both tribal and non-tribal and from every corner of Tripura come in thousands to this holy place thus setting a good example of national integration. Today when whole world is reeling under communal disharmony this festival is a silver lining and a bridge between the people of both tribal and non-tribal communities in Tripura to generate peace, faith, love and harmony.