01Fourteen heads
The Fourteen Deities are shown only as heads, cast in metal, and kept in the temple of the old capital. The Rajmala, the chronicle of the Tripura kings, gives their worship a place from the earliest times of the dynasty. Among them are Hara (Shiva), Uma, Hari, Ma (Lakshmi), Vani (Saraswati), Kumara, Ganapa, Brahma, Prithvi, Abdhi (the sea), Ganga, Agni, Kamadeva and Himadri. The priests are the Chantai, from the Tripuri community, and the worship mixes the old rites of the hills with the Shastric form.
02Kharchi Puja
For seven days in Ashadh (July) the fourteen are carried by the Chantai to the Saidra river for a bath, brought back, anointed with sandal and flowers, and worshipped while Old Agartala fills with a fair. Kharchi means the cleansing of sins, and the festival is held to purify the land after the earth’s monthly cycle, the Ama Pechi, when ploughing is stopped. The state of Tripura keeps it as a public festival.
The life of this place
- 18th centuryThe temple is built at Old Agartala when the Manikya capital moves there.
At Old Agartala (Khayerpur), about 14 km east of Agartala city; Kharchi Puja falls in July.
