Kharchi festival defuses communal tension, brings tribals and non-tribals closer in Tripura

Of the many festivals in the hilly north-eastern Indian state of Tripura, the worship of Fourteen Gods, popularly known as Kharchi Puja, is a major religious event.

Every year, Kharchi is celebrated with a great deal of fanfare in the months of June and July depending on the dates indicated by the astrological calendar.
 
In fact, Tripura is also known as the land of Fourteen Gods.
 
Besides being a religious event, the festival plays a cementing role in establishing a bond between the majority, non-tribal people, who had migrated from the erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and Tripura’s indigenous tribal folks.
 
The Fourteen Gods temple, now also a tourist attraction, was constructed in 1760, when Maharaja Krishna Manikya shifted his capital from Udaipur to Old Agartala.
 

This festival is associated with indigenous tribal deities but is also influenced by the Brahmanical Hindus.

What makes the festival unique is that although Hindu rites form much of the rituals, the deities – a set of heads without their bodies - hardly resemble any other god of the Hindu pantheon.

Yet, the fourteen heads have been accepted as the popular deities by Hindus in Tripura.

In Kharchi Puja, though a tribal festival, the deities worshiped have been adopted by the Hindus and, remarkably, both a tribal priest, ‘Chantai’, and a Hindu Brahmin perform the rituals together.

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

In the past, human sacrifices were offered to please the fourteen gods but now 108 male goats are slaughtered on the first day, a practice now arranged by the state government.

However, through the seven days, thousands of devotees offer sacrificial animals such as goat, chicken and pigeon.

The Chief Royal Priest is given a state salute by the police still today, as, according to tradition, he assumes the role of the king during the seven-day celebration.

Many believe the festival has helped defuse Tripura’s communal conflict, turning it into a peaceful state.