About Kharchi Puja

About Kharchi Puja

Kharchi Puja is the great summer festival of Tripura, held for seven days in July at the temple of the Fourteen Gods, the Chaturdasha Devata, in Old Agartala. It starts on the eighth day of the bright half of Ashadha.

Kharchi comes from the Kokborok words for earth and cleansing. The festival is a prayer to cleanse the earth and wash away sins after the time of the year when the earth is believed to rest. The Fourteen Gods are honoured for the well-being of the whole land and all its people.

On the first morning, the priests, called Chantai, carry the heads of the Fourteen Gods to the Saidra river, bathe them and bring them back to the temple with drums and prayers. Offerings of flowers, fruit and sweets follow, and the temple glows with lamps.

The festival began with the kings of Tripura and is now kept by the state. It belongs to tribal and Bengali families alike. A big fair fills the temple grounds for the week, with bamboo crafts, food, music and visitors from every corner of Tripura.