Durgabari temple Durga puja to enter its 148th year

Agartala, Oct 5 (PTI) The worship of two-arm Goddess Durga at the Durgabari temple here, one of the oldest in Tripura, will enter its 148th year.

The goddess is offered a gun salute by Tripura State Rifles (TSR) and the national anthem is played as a mark of respect on the day of immersion of Durga idol.

The goddess is also offered meat, fish, and eggs as prasad apart from vegetables and rice during the puja.

"This time the puja enters its 148th year, the oldest puja in Tripura in its present location. It was Maharaja Krishna Kishore Manikya Bahadur, who first started worshipping goddess Durga in present-day Chittagong in Bangladesh around 500 years ago. Over the years, the goddess was worshipped from Chittagong to Amarpur in Gumati to Udaipur - before the puja permanently settled in Agartala," chief priest of Durgabari temple, Jayanta Bhattacharjee told PTI on Saturday.

The Durga puja will be held from October 9 to 12.

He claimed that this is the only puja where devotees worship the two-handed Goddess Durga, a unique custom introduced long ago.

"Long ago, Maharani Sulakshana Devi had fainted after seeing a ten-handed goddess at Durgabari and was taken back to the palace. On the same night, she received a divine message to worship a two-handed goddess instead of a ten-handed goddess from next year. Since then we are worshipping a two-handed goddess at Durgabari," the priest said.

During puja days, the goddess is offered prasad containing meat, fish, and eggs apart from vegetables and rice, he said.

Bhattacharjee said gun salute are also being given while the national anthem is played on the day of immersion of the Durga idol as a mark of respect.

As part of an old ritual, the idol is taken to the royal palace where family members of the Manikya dynasty pay respect before starting the immersion journey. PTI PS RG