The Chaturdasa Devata or Fourteen Gods is the

Shaivite Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

pantheon worshipped in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

Overview

According to traditions, the origin for the worship of these deities was contemporary to the setting of the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'', during the reign of

Yudhishthira Yudhishthira (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, ud̪ʱiʂʈʰiɾᵊ IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira''), also known as Dharmaputra, is the eldest among the five Pandavas, and is also one of the central characters of the ancient Indian epic ''Ma ...

. They state that the god

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, after the death of Tripur (one of Tripura's legendary ancient kings), promised to grant a son and heir to his widow. However, the god stipulated that worship of the Chaturdasa Devata be duly and regularly observed in the kingdom in return. Historically, it is believed that the indigenous

Tripuri people The Tripuri people (Kokborok language, Kókborok: ''Tripuri dópha rok''), also known as Tripura, Tipra, Twipra, Tipperah, are a Tibeto-Burman-speaking ethnic group of Northeast India, Indian state of Tripura and Bangladesh. They are the descend ...

of Tripura had adjusted their native culture and religion with that of Hinduism when the latter's influence reached the region. The non-

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...

high priests, the ''Chantai'', continued to minister their rites and rituals, but absorbed the important Hindu deities, resulting in their national pantheon transforming into the Chaturdasa Devata, with the deities being identified with a corresponding Brahmanical name. They became the family deities of the Manikya dynasty, the former rulers of Tripura. Human sacrifices were made in their honour under monarchs such as Deva Manikya and his son Vijaya Manikya, though this practice had died out by the latter half of the 1600s. The following century, the present temple dedicated to the deities was built in

Agartala Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...

by Krishna Manikya, though an earlier structure had existed in the old capital

Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...

. Worship of the Chatursasa Devata still continues in Tripura. Their festival, the Kharchi puja, is among the most prominent in the state, taking place over the course of a week in July. The first day of the celebration is declared a holiday by the government.

List of deities

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaturdasa Devata Regional Hindu deities Shaivism Religion in Tripura