Rathajatra mela, Shivaratri mela, Sri
Panchami mela, Charak mela, Janmastami mela, Baruni sran (Baruani mela), Shiva
Chaturdashi mela, Sita Ram Kunda mela, Baishakhi mela, Mela (year ending), Narayan
Khamar mela (on the occasion of Shripanchami), Kanchanmala mela (on the occasion
of Poush Sankranti), Mela (on the occasion of Poush Sankranti), Mela (on the
occasion of Bengali Nababarsa), Nehal Chandranagar mela, Kalibari mela, Purathal
Rajnagar mela, Shiva mela, Chaitra mela (on the occasion of Chaitra Sankranti),
Gopalnagar Malaitaler mela (on the occasion of Shivratri), Kalacherra mela,
Kerchi mela ( on the occasion of Kerchi puja), Rashmela (on the occasion of
Rashpurnima), Poush Sankranti, Naba Barsa, Darger mela (on the occasion of Poush
Sankranti), Birth day ceremony of Srimat Swami Nitya Krishnanda Abadaut Mahaaj
at (Yogi Bari) on the occasion of Srabani Purnima), Saraswati mela (on the occasion
of Saraswati puja), Battala mela (Poush Sankranti), Darga mela (name of which
is Thakurmura Darga).
Ker Puja, Kharachi Puja, Saraswati Puja,
Druga Puja, Kali Puja, Shiv Puja, Dol Puja, Rath Jatra, Laxmi Puja, Poush Sankranti,
Id-ud-Zuha, Good Friday, Easterday, New Year's day, Ganesh Puja Chaitra Sankranti,
Manasa Puja, First baishakh, Biswakarma Puja, Rash Lila, Charak Puja, basanti
Puja, Jhulan Jatra, Janmastami, Christmas day, Burdebta Moharram, Bishub Parab,
Ganga Puja, Garia Puja, Sitala Puja, Nabanna, Birthday of Swami Vivekananda,
Bishahari Puja.
Kharchi Festival
Kharch puja of this territory is performed with great joy and devotion. No other
festival in Tripura is held with so much pomp and show as this. It is also called
'Chaturdash' or 'Chaudda Devata Puja'. The place where the festival fair is
held is, known as 'Chaturdash Devata' or 'Chaudda Devatas bari, Old Agartala,
the second capital of His Highness Krishna Manikya. The old Agartala was the
capital of the former rulers of Tripura and 'Chaturdash Devata' were their family
deities. When the capital was shifted to Agartala from old Agartala, the family
deities were, however, left there for reasons not known. The then rulers of
Tipura, however, appointed a group of tribal priests for the worship of these
fourteen Gods. From that time onward the Gods are being daily worshipped. But
in the month of Ashar (June-July) on the eighth day of the moonlit period (Suklastami),
a special worship known as
Kharchi Puja
begins which continues for seven days. As regards genesis of the deities it
is believed that in the hoary past there was a king named Tripur who used to
rule this land and after whom the place was named as Tripura. It is said that
he was very cruel and oppressive towards the subjects. The tyranny and oppression
of the king became so intolerable that his subjects lodged protest against him
to Lord Siva, who being pleased with their prayers and worship, killed the king
Tripur. Though the king was killed, the suffering and miseries of the people
instead of abating aggravated, as they were left without a king. They once again
prayed to Lord Siva for a king. Lord Shiva was pleased and said that soon the
widow queen of Tripur, 'Harabati' would be blessed with a son, who would rule
the kingdom to the satisfaction of all. He, however, directed the queen and
others to worship daily the following Gods : hara (Lord Siva), Uma (Wife of
Lord Siva), hari (Lord bishnu), Ma (Lakshmi), Bani (Saraswati), Kumar (Kartikaya),
Ganesh (Siddidata), Brahma (creator of Universe), Prithi (Goddess of Earth),
Samudra (God of Ocean), Ganga (Goddess of Ganges), Agni (God of Fire) Kamdev
(God of Love and Romance), and Himalaya (God of all Hills). During Kharchi Puja
another Goddess, namely 'Burama' is worshipped by a tribal priest.
The deity is made of stone nd kept in a separate hut which is open on all
sides and constructed on a pucca plinth. All the year round the deity is kept
these, although-worship is done only during Kharchi Puja. Every woman specially
married ones after vermilion and lights candle in front of Burama with a fervent
hope of being blessed with children. It is believed that ven a barren woman
who offers Puja to Burama is blessed with children. The most redeeming feature
of the Kharchi Puja is the sacrifice of thousands of the goats offered by
religious minded people of all castes and creeds. This act of sacrifice is
performed by a special group of priests known as Galim. Body of the animal
after being sacrificed, is given back to the person who brings it, while the
head is retained by the Galims. After each sacrifice, some quantity of blood
and pieces of flesh of animal are offered to fourteen gods.
Ker Festival
Probably the most outstanding and at the same time peculiar festival of Tripura
is the Ker Puja. it is held just after a fortnight of Kharchi Puja. The worship
for 'ker' is held only one the first Tuesday or Saturday after fourteen days
of Kharchi Puja. It seems that the worship of ke has a direct link with the
worship of Kharchi, because the ker is also worshipped by 'Chantai' the chief
of the priests of old Agartala. In the performance of this worship a particular
place is earmarked which is known as ker Chaumuhani at Agartala and it is demorcated
from rest of the places by a bamboo fence. This festival is also held in several
tribal villages of Tripura where 'Ojhai' (tribal priest) performs the worship.
The main feature of this festival is the worship of a long invoked bamboo which
is locally known as nagri Pura.
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