Agartala, Jun 26, 2023, TRIPURATIMES Desk

Agartala Jun 26: Kharchi Puja, a prominent, centuries- old festival of princely state Tripura usually observed on the Shukla Paksha Ashtami (Eighth Lunar Day) day in the month of July (Ashad in Bengali) began on Monday with all traditional rituals.

Tripura chief minister Dr Manik Saha inaugurated the 7-day long festival on Monday in presence of Minister of Transport and Tourism Sushanta Choudhury, Minister for Tribal Welfare Bikash Debbarma, MLA Ratan Chakraborty, AMC Mayor Dipak Majumder among others.

“Kharchi” derived from two words “Khar” and “chi” is a festival with a major ritual of cleaning the earth.

Although the puja is associated with indigenous-origin and rituals, apart from the tribals of the state, non-tribal people also celebrate the festival with equal joy and fervor.

According to beliefs from old times, mother goddess menstruates during the time of Ambubachi when the earth becomes impure and therefore Kharchi puja is observed to clean the earth after the menstrual cycle gets over.

The week-long rituals start with holy bath of all the fourteen idols at the Saidra river and later decorated with vermillion and flowers.

Apart from prasadam consisting of sweets fruits of various kinds, animal sacrifices like goats, pigeons and others are also offered to the deities.

 Addressing the occasion, the chief minister said, “Kharchi festival is an integral part of Tripura and resembles the culture and heritage of the state”.

Praising the efforts of the Fair organizing committee including local MLA Ratan Chakraborty, Dr Saha said, “The 7-day long festival is an occasion where people across the state and outside throng in to the temple premises to offer prayers to the fourteen deities, Chaturdash Devata. It is a time when small traders also gather across the temple premises with various kinds of goods in a hope of making profit”.

The chief minister also assured to look into the demand of forming a trust of the Fourteen-goddess temple.

He further stressed on preserving and reviving the cultural heritage of the state.

Appealing the people from far and wide to make the 7-day long Kharchi festival a success, MLA Ratan Chakraborty said, “The fair this year is going to mark a record in the history of Tripura”.

He further said, “Rs 6.5 crores have been sanctioned for beautification and further development of the temple premises and the work will be completed within the coming year”.

Chakraborty also urged the state government and its concerned department to look into the request of forming a trust of the temple like that of Tripureshwari Mandir in Udaipur, so that the money donated by people and other assets can be made into use for welfare-oriented works of the temple in an organized manner.

The MLA further said that adequate security arrangements including setting up of CCTV cameras has been made to avowing any untoward incident during the 7-day long festivity.

Minister for Tripura Tribal Welfare Bikash Debbarma also addressed the occasion while putting emphasis on the rituals and long-time tradition of Tripura’s indigenous people associated with the Kharchi Puja and Festival.

Later, the chief minister along with others offered prayers at the Chaturdash Devata temple.