FOURTEEN GODS OF TRIPURA Tripura has been ruled for ages by asingle dynasty of the Manikyas or the Tripuri kings. Searchingthe roots, I have found the national pantheon of the Tripuries.These were the group of ‘Fourteen Gods’ or ‘Chaturdasha Devata’worshipped by the Cantais in a series of fourteen metal heads. Theuse of heads only, instead of full-bodied images, is unique inHindu ritual. This feature is also found in Kailasahar (Headscarved out on the rocks of Unakoti).

In terms of Iconography, the‘Fourteen Gods’ explains the most universal symbol of tribal faithin Tripura. It ranges from the vaguest animism & supernaturalworship to the deepest anthropomorphism. The religion of thetribal people to some extent is also an amalgamation of differentreligious beliefs & practices such as animism, totemism,shamanism, magic, fertility cult, ancestor worship etc. Pujas &festivals constitute the major part of the tribal religious life.Of the many festivals in Tripura, the one that occupies the prideis the worship of the ‘fourteen deities’ popularly known as‘Kharchi puja’ celebrated with much enthusiasm. ‘Kharchi puja’ iscelebrated in the month of June-July each year on the Suklastamiday which lasts for seven days in the ‘Chaturdasha devata’ temple atOld Agartala, about five miles away from the present capitalAgartala. The word ‘Kharchi’ is said to be a corrupt form of‘Khya’ which means ‘earth’. Kharchi Puja is, therefore, ‘theworship of the earth’ – the earth that sustains mankind with allher resources. Kharchi puja is the worship of the dynasty deityof Tripuri people, the fourteen gods fig-(i). It is performed onthe eight day of new moon. The fourteen gods are worshipped bythe royal priest Chantai.

Fig-(i) Worship of the Chaturdasha devata during Kharchi puja in thenewly constructed temple outside the main shrine.

The bamboo plant plays a great rolein the life of the Tipras. The bamboo made structure of a deityto some extent may be called an altar or a pedestal of the deityfig-(ii).

Fig-(ii) Plantation of seven bamboo poles by the Chantai.

The original names of the fourteendeities were suggested by the ancient manuscripts of the Manikyasnamed ‘Surjya Fuja Khelaimaani’ (The worship of god Surya). They areas follows :-

i. Subrai Raja or Matai Katar.ii. Motai Katrama.iii. Habunga Bubagra.iv. Noukhontai Bubagra.v. Toibu Bubagra.vi. Basuya Bubagra.vii. Manengfa.viii. Menangfa.ix. Haaroingfa.x. Kamasree.xi. Dounai.xii. Kherouaifa.xiii. Khaski or Khaki.xiv. Naka.

The Sanskrit Rajmala describes the fourteen deities in thefollowing verse:

‘HAROMA HARIMA VANI KUMARO GANAPA VIDHIH KSMABDHI GANGA SIKHI KAMOHIMADRISCA CATURDASA’.

Each of the deities are worshipped individually throughout theyear. They symbolises the natural forces, the spirits and thesupreme soul.

i. Subrai Raja or Matai Katar – Supreme supernatural force

Matai katar is the supreme god of Tripuri people and first amongthe fourteen gods. In the mythology of Tripuri people, MataiKatar or Subrai is considered as the supreme creator of thisuniverse & the life in the earth. The word Shiva has root in the

Kirata or Borok race, not in the vedas because Shiva as god is notmentioned in it. Shiva is hybrid of two kirata words, simani means‘Gyan’ or knowledge and Kaiba means ‘five’, i.e.Si+Ba=Siba=Siva=Sibarai=Sibrai(also known as Subrai Raja). That meansgod who has knowledge of five elements of life, the earth, fire,water, air and sky, i.e. the cosmic rays which forms the life.Since he is believed to be the creator of life in this world,therefore he made us to perceive or feel the five senses of ourbody. Thus Shiva is said to have five faces and also called aspanchanan. Sibrai is converted to Shivai in Sanskrit. The kiratawere not expert in making idols, so in ancient time they used toworship small linga shaped stone symbolizing as God Shivaespecially in the jungles of Unakoti fig-(iii). Such type ofexample is also seen in the interior hill of Boromura and here heis known as ‘Holong Mutai’. This is a sacred place visited by thedevotees every year. This Holongis pronounced as Hlong in Riangdialect. This word hlong is converted to hlong=hling=ling in laterperiod by the Aryans to suit their tongue.

Fig-(iii) Small linga shaped stone symbolizing as God Shiva found in the jungles of Unakoti

ii. Motai Katrama – Consort of Matai Katar.

Matai katarma is known among the kirata or Borok raceas Haichwk ma or the goddess of hills. She is the consort of lordSubrai who is almighty owner of the universe. According to theTripuri mythology & faith she lives in the jungle & all the highhills. She is also known as Kirati or kiratini, which means goddessof kirata people. Matai katarma is the power or Shakti, and thefeminine energy, for she represents the primal creative principleunderlying the cosmos. She is the energizing force of alldivinity. In Kokborok i.e. Tripuri language Motai means Goddess.In the past, Tripura Sundari Devi was also known as MotaiThakurani. Motai katrama represents the power of the supreme-beingwho preserves order and righteousness. As the divine mother, sheprotects mankind against evil and misery by destroying the evilforces like anger, hatred, jealousy, etc. She is a multi-dimensional goddess with many names & facets.

iii. Habunga Bubagra – The deity of Earth.

She has maternal and productive characteristics & is known forher supportive nature. She accommodates everything & isstationary. Habunga Bubagra along with heaven is prayed forwealth, power. The water produced by her is considered as pure,nourishing & fertile. Tribal people worship her for protectionfrom danger, to compensate sin thereby bringing in happiness. Sheis a national personification in Indonesia, where she is known asIbu Pertiwi (Mother Earth). She is similar to the Goddess ‘Prithvi’.Prithvi also appears in Early Buddhism where she appears in thePali Canon, dispelling the temptation figure Mara by attesting toGautama Buddha’s worthiness to attain enlightenment.

iv. Noukhontai Bubagra – The tutelary spirit of the families.

No tribal house is supposed to be without its tutelary divinity.He is venerated as the guarding of the dwelling. In general thehousehold deities were regarded as the unseen spirits of ill, theghosts and goblins who hovered about every spot & claimed someparticular sites as their own. In hindu homes, the Vastu puja for

Vastudevata is performed outside the house before the actualentry into the house. These ceremonies are also thanks givings tothe gods & the ancestors for the boon of a house. The Noukhontaior Nakchumatai puja has to be propitiated by the Ochai after theRandhak puja is over as a part of the Garia puja.

Lord Garia is also the naturalbenevolent spirit of the household. He looks after the increaseof production & his blessings are necessary to relief thesufferings & to increase the production of crops. ‘Ker puja’ isalso held in order to shield from disease, anxiety, epidemiccapture & all sort of natural calamities caused by the supernatural deities.

v. Toibu Bubagra– The Water Goddess.

The nature deity ToibuBubagra as the goddess of water is worshipped by the Tripuris.She looks after the welfare of the members of a certain householdas well as the community. It is said that when offerings &sacrifices are not made to the water goddess, she changes herrole & brings in disease, death, failure of crops, accident &other calamities for the family or the village. The Toibu Bubagrapuja is generally celebrated once a year and the villagers of aNoatia community arrange this expensive puja by raising a fund.The puja may be called a ritual for everybody’s affairs. Thispuja is arranged by the side of a river or a stream near to atribal village or para. On the appointed day, the symbolicrepresentation of the deity is made with the aid of green bamboopoles. Toibu Bubagra, the goddess of water is not the Supremegoddess, but she gives abundant of crops, peace & prosperity.

vi. Basuya Bubagra – The god who drives away diseases.

He smites away the darkness & triumphs over the powersof darkness & witches. He prolongs the lives of men & drives awaysickness, disease, and evil dreams. Basuya Bubagra, the evilspirit, generally, lives in and around the forest, near a stream,on some isolated bamboos and the road crossing of a tribalvillage. At the level of observation when one finds a chance tosee the ritual of Basuya Bubagra, he comes across a certain symbolconstructed by bamboo poles, as the representation of this deity.He is also known as the guardian deity of witch who is nothingbut the evil spirit of nature. The Tipras believe in the art ofwitch craft. They engage an Ochai to cure the long continueddiseases. The worship of this deity takes place in the forestoutside the village.

vii. Manengfa.

As creator, Manengfa is sometimes said to have been thefirst of the gods, the framer of the universe & the guardian ofthe Tribals. He is also said to be the self - created. Manengfaoften figures in the main body of the Chaturdasha Devata as theinferior of Dounai & Subrai. Manengfa causes life to exist in hisown way. Manengfa, the impersonal god & the universal soul (mahaatman) is the Absolute truth. It is the spiritual essenceunderlying all reality & is the only reality. Manengfa is boththe manifest & the unmanifest, the one with form & the formless.He is here & beyond; he is limitless, indefinable, eternal &unchanging. He is the personification of serenity & is theprovider of knowledge& wisdom.

viii. Menangfa.

‘Menangfa’ can be related with ‘Vishkarma’. He is ‘Omnificient’,which was at first the title of any strong god, such as Kherouaifa(sky god); but gradually, he came to refer to the divineartificer, honoured for the creation of the universe. Menangfa

also taught the art of craft to the Tribals. In the hierarchy,his role is restricted to that of architect of the gods.

ix. Haaroingfa. Observing by their religious

beliefs, the Tipras have to be said the worshipper of naturalforces as the gods & goddesses like the other tribal communitiesof the North East India. The earth is the mother Goddessthroughout the primitive world. She is the giver of blessingsfor increasing the productivity of paddy and crops. She is alsoknown as ‘Mailooma’. She is the goddess of paddy butanthropologically known as the mother Goddess ‘Earth’. The deity‘Kholooma’ is the mother Goddess mixed with the earth who isworshipped for abundant supply of cotton crops. These twodeities are extremely related with the fertility cult. In mostof the cases the deity Mailooma & Kholooma are paid reverencejointly.

x. Kamasree.Kamasree or Kama is the god of love. When Brahma became

identified as the creator god, Kama was said to have sprung fromhis heart. Kama is considered to be the son of Dharma inHinduism. Kamasree of the Tribals can be compared to the God Kamawho concerns with creation but identified with sexual desire.Some of the vedas exalt kama’s role still further, saying that hewas self-existent, sprung from the cosmic waters & himself thesupreme god and creator whose first emanation was desire & whosesecond was the power to achieve that desire.

xi. Dounai- The protector.Dounai is the manifestation of solar energy & his three

steps are manifestations of light- the sun, lightning & fire. Heis also known as the creator & supreme god. As the preserver heis the embodiment of the quality of mercy and goodness. He guardsthe righteous, destroys evil- doers & restores the balance ofgood and evil. According to Dounai’s adherents, he is unlikeManengfa and Subrai in that he has no need to assert his own

superiority. Indeed, his mildness combined with his power proveshim to be the greatest of the gods. As the preserver, he is theGod of devotion rather than of fear. Dounai or Vishnu is theprotector of the world & restorer of dharma (moral order).

Though Tribal gods & goddesses are phenomenal, in due courseof time, Dounai, as the god of all gods, acquired supremacy. Heis deemed to be omnipotent, omnipresent & omniscient.

xii. Kherouaifa- The deity of the Sky.Kherouaifa is the ruler of the sky or heavens. He is the god ofthunder and rain. As a great warrior, he is also a symbol ofcourage and strength. He leads the elements, such as fire, waterand sun. He is considered the celestial form of fire & thesource of life. According to the ancient Hindu scriptures, theUpanishads, it is said that at the time of creation, the world’segg was divided into two parts-one silver & the other golden.The silver became the earth & the golden part, the sky.

xiii. Khaski or Khaki.

The word Khaski or Kharchi is derived from two Tripuri words'Khar' or Kharta means Sin, 'chi' or si means cleaning. Finalmeaning is cleaning of the sins of the people or the kingdom. TheKhachi puja is performed after 15 days of Amapechi or Ambubachi.According to Tripuri legends Amapechi is menstruation of mothergoddess or earth mother. So the soil is not ploughed or dug outanywhere on this day. After the menstruation of mother earthduring Amapechi, the earth is considered to become unholy. Thekharchi puja is performed to wash out the sins, to clean up thepost menstrual uncleanliness of earth mothers menstruation. Thatis why it is performed for seven consecutive days.

xiv. Naka- God of the mountain.

Mountains occupy an important place in thelife of the Tribal people. Naka- ‘the god of mountain’ is asymbol of strength. It appears from the discussion of several

scholars that the Tipras have recognized Toibu Bubagra or tuima asthe consort of the deity Naka. Sometimes he is known as Sangram.The tribes of Tripura give preference to the nature deities,spirits & ancestors to carry on struggle for existence. Thetribal religion of Tripura is essentially polytheistic & isexpressed in pujas & festivals both at the family & communallevels.

Iconographically almost all thefourteen metal heads are similar to each other. Among them, thethirteen heads are made of brass while one is made of silver onlyfig-(v). They are all more or less equal in size measuringprobably 22cm in height along with throat and crown. During thepuja each head image is placed on a wooden made Pira rectangularin size fig-(iv). The Pira measuring 25.40 cm X 15.24 cm is givenas an Asana to which the deity is kept. The heads display wideforehead and hair indications are nil, the eyes are longhorizontal ones and eyebrows are not marked. The face is oval andnose is long and semi-pointed. The mouth is indicated by a lightlongitudinal cut. The head bears an ornamented cinical crown

consisting of beaded decoration. The faces of the gods are allexpressive and workmanship is not of a high order fig-(v).

(a) (b)

Fig-(iv) (a) A plate enclosing the asana ofthe Chaturdasha devata.

(b) Asana in which the Chaturdasha devata reposes.

Fig-(v) Subrai raja (Siva)

Iconographic identification ofthese images of brass are uncertain. Indeed curious andinteresting but equally significant are two horns which are shownbehind the crown (crescent moon) fig-(v). Besides, theidentification of the head-images is not possible even in thefield of genders also. The head-images bear no attributesaccording to the Brahmanical Gods and Goddesses. It is a factthat the broken head- image may not be supported by theBrahmanical iconography as the object of rituals. But it is a

fact that these head images have been accepted as the populardeities by the Hindus of Tripura.

The aim behind worshipping these‘fourteen gods’ is to avert an impending danger or calamity whichmight fall upon them or for food production or crops & also toachieve punya. Wonderfully, the Tribal culture of Tripura,accompanied with the Pujas & Festivals plays an important role inthe field of national integration & unity. It will continue tofocus the light for the progressive development of the state.Thus the Chaturdasha Devata of the Royal House of the Tripura aswell as the people of this land will be immortal forever.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(i) Acharjee Jahar, Tripurar Itihas (Bengali), 2012 AD.(ii) Sen Kaliprassana, Rajmala Volume-I, Agartala.(iii) Singha Kailashchandra, Rajmalaba Tripurar Etihash(Bengali),

Okhor, 1405 Bongabdo.(iv) Mookerjee Ajit, Kali the Feminine Force, Thames & Hudson, 2001.(v) Debbarman Suren, Tripurar Upajati Adidharma, Nrityakala O Devdevi

(Bengali), Gyan Bichitra, 2004.(vi) Dasgupta Mandira, Project on ‘Iconographic Forms of the

Tripuri cult’.