About Garia Puja

About Garia Puja

Garia Puja is a spring festival of the Tripuri and other tribal communities of Tripura, kept from the seventh day of Baishakh, in late April. It honours Baba Garia, the god of livelihood, wealth and children.

The god is shown as a bamboo pole, decorated with flowers, cloth and garlands and set up in the courtyard or the village. Families offer rice, eggs, cotton thread and other gifts, and pray for good harvests, healthy children and peace in the home.

The best part is the Garia dance. Men and women dance in circles to the beat of the kham drum and the sumui flute, showing the work of the fields: clearing the land, sowing seeds and reaping the crop. In many villages the dance and the visits go on for seven days.

Garia Puja comes just after the Tripuri new year, Buisu, when the hills turn green and jhum farming begins. It is a state holiday in Tripura and a joyful time of visits, food and music.