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Kharchi puja is the worship of the dynasty deity of Tripuri people, the fourteen gods. It is performed in the month of July August on the eight day of new moon. The fourteen gods are worshipped by the royal priest Chantai. They are all Tripuri by birth, and it is hereditary one. Only members of chantai family descendants are allowed to take the post of Chantai, since the time it had started for more than 3000 years ago, and it is still continuing till date. All the attendants of chantai are also belong to Tripuri people, since the beginning and are followed. This is the only one puja is exclusively performed by the pujari or the priests belonging to Tripuri people.
The word Kharchi is derived from two Tripuri words 'Khar' or Kharta meaning or Sin, 'chi' or si meaning cleaning. Final meaning is cleaning of the sins of the people or the kingdom. The Khachi puja is performed after 15 days of Ama pechi or Ambu bachi. According to Tripuri legends Ama Pechi is menstruation of mother goddess or earth mother. So the soil is not ploughed or digging of any where on this day. Among Tripuri the menstruation of a woman is considered as unholy ness, which is why in this period all the performance auspicious functions by women are prohibited. Even to the extent any priest whose wife is menstruating is prohibited to perform any auspicious or religious function.
So after the menstruation of mother earth during Ama pechi, the earth is considered to become unholy. The kharchi puja is performed to wash out the sins, to clean up the post menstrual uncleanly ness of earth mothers menstruation. That is why it is performed for seven consecutive days.

Kharchi puja lasts for seven days, the festivals is held at Old Agartala, at the temple premises of fourteen gods. On day of puja, the fourteen deities are carried by members of chantai, taken to river Saidra, it is bathed in the holy water and brought back to temple. They are placed in the temple again, decorated by various flowers, put up vermillion in the fore head of deities.

 Every day lots of people throng in the festivals both Tripuri and non-Tripuri participate in the festivals. People offer different type so Prasad like goat, buffalo, fouls, sweets etc. now a day many cultural progammes are performed in the night. A large fair is also organized on the occasion. People seek their welfare as well as the welfare of the society and the state in general.

Home to a culture that is considered to be one of the richest cultures in the world, Kerala is one of the best kept secrets of India. A culture in which the heritage of the land is proudly preserved in the hearths and hearts of all the people of the land, a study into the culture of Kerala is a fascinating tale of natural beauty coupled with an ancient heritage. Perhaps no other aspect of the heritage of Kerala exhibits it as much as do the various festivals in Kerala, notable among which is the Champakkulam Boat Race.

Time for celebrating the Champakkulam Boat Race

Description Champakkulam Boat Race

Happy Guru Purnima 2018 Wishes Quotes, Images, Messages: Every year, Guru Purnima — also known as Vyasa Purnima — is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Ashadha of the Shakha Samavat by the Hindu calendar followed by Buddhists, Jains and Hindus. On this day, thousands of devotees express their gratitude towards their gurus for enlightenment. There is a long history associated with this festival. This year, the day falls on July 27.
The term Guru Purnima is paradoxical. ‘Gu’ implies darkness whereas ‘ru’ stands for dispelling form of darkness. Therefore, a guru is considered to be that person who removes all darkness from our lives and brings light. In Nepal, it is celebrated as Teacher’s Day. 
 Importance and significance of Guru Purnima
Guru Purnima is celebrated by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains every year on the full moon day of the Shakha Samavat in the Hindu calendar. This festival commemorates the goodness of spiritual gurus and teachers as thousands of devotees worship and thank their gurus for enlightenment.
This festival has a deep and interesting history and this year it falls on July 27, Friday. Guru Purnima in itself is a paradoxical term, with ‘Gu’ meaning darkness and ‘ru’ standing for the removal of darkness. Thus, a guru is believed to be someone who removes all darkness from our lives. From spiritual gurus to secular ones, people pay respect to teachers all over the country. In Nepal, it is celebrated as Teacher’s Day.
It is believed that Lord Buddha gave his first sermon on this day. After five weeks of achieving enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Buddha went from Bodhgaya to Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh where he gave the sermon on the full moon day. The followers of Buddha thus celebrate this day to worship him.
Even Shiva is known to have transmitted the learning of yoga to his disciples the ‘Saptarishis’ or seven sages on this day.
Guru Purnima is also known as Vyasa Purnima, as it is believed that on this day Ved Vyasa — the author of Mahabharata was born, who is a pioneer of the guru-shishya tradition.
Why it is celebrated, legend, history and all you need to know
Guru Purnima 2018: It is believed that a person is blind without a teacher to guide him. A mother is the first teacher of a child, but after that, the guru becomes his or her second mother. The shastras proclaim that a human being is born twice or dvija, first by the union of the father and mother, and second when he is accepted by a bonafide guru, whereby he acts as a father and delivers him with the help of mother Gayatri, which is a personification of Vedic knowledge.
It is the teacher who teaches us how to live this life and become a human being. There is nobody in this material world who can save us from the dangers of material miseries unless we have received proper guidance from our teachers, preceptors and well-wishers.
According to Kathopanishad (1.2.12), tad-vigyananartham sa gurum evabhigachchhet, samit-panih shrotriyam brahma-nishtham. This Vedic injunction means, “In order to learn the transcendental science, one must approach the bona fide spiritual master in disciplined succession, who is fixed in the Absolute Truth. Thus, it has been enjoined herewith that in order to receive that transcendental knowledge, one must approach the guru.”

: According to Brahma Purana, in Satya Yuga, Lord Brahma wished for an idol of Lord Vishnu for his holy abode. So, following his instruction, Vishwakarma, the Lord of architecture, made a four-armed Vishnu idol. It was made of sapphire and that is why was known as Neel Madhav. Being extremely pleased, Brahma placed it on the top of Mount Sumeru.
One day, Indra, the king of heaven, came to pay a visit to Brahma. When he saw the idol, he instantly fall in love with it and begged it from Brahma. Brahma granted his wish and Indra returned back to heaven with Neel Madhav.
But in Treta Yuga, when Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka, saw the idol after defeating Indra in war and conquering the heaven, he send it to his younger brother Vibhishana. In Dvapara Yuga, it is believed, Neel Maadhav got it's place in Krishna's Dvaraka. But when the town submerged in ocean after Krishna's death, Neel Madhav too had lost in vast water.
It is believed that, in Kali Yuga, ocean himself placed the idol in a cave temple of Nilagiri, the blue mountain belongs to present days Puri, Odisha. Thus, Neel Madhav, the earlier form of Jagannath, finally got a steady place of worshipping again.

 Puri used to construct total 6 chariots, two for Jagannath, two for Subhadra and two for Balabhadra. But now a days, only 3 chariots are pulled through the streets of Puri. Why?
The reason simply lies in town's geography. It is said that, in long past, a big canal, known as Balagundi Nala, existed in the route of Ratha Yatra, between Jagannath temple and Gundicha Temple. It was not possible to pull the huge chariots over the Nala. So, devotees used to pull first 3 chariots from the Jagannath temple to one side of Balagundi. After reaching there, they used to carry the idols in the time of crossing the Nala and place them in another 3 chariots. These 3 chariots were pulled to Gundicha Temple finally.
But in the year of 1282, King Keshari Narasimha of Puri, instructed his people to fill up the Nala with sand and mud. After that, a street was made over it. Since then, Puri is constructing only 3 chariots for Jagannath's Ratha Yatra festival.

Ratha-yatra, or the Festival of Chariots, is a joyous event celebrated for thousands of years in the Indian holy city of Jagannatha Puri, and more recently by Hare Krishna devotees in cities around the world. Another name for Krishna, Jagannatha refers to the ecstatic form of the Lord with large eyes and rugged features who is carried on a gigantic chariot during this festival (and worshiped in an ancient temple at the center of Jagannath Puri.)
As the story goes, Lord Krishna once overheard a conversation about how His dearest devotees, the cowherd maidens of Vrindavana, were lamenting in His absence. When He heard these accounts of overwhelming love in separation, the Lord’s hair began to stand on end, His eyes opened wide and filled with tears, and His arms and legs contracted as He went into a state of spiritual ecstasy. Seeing Lord Krishna in this condition, His elder brother, Balarama (Baladeva), also began to feel ecstatic symptoms and displayed similar features. When Their sister, Subhadra, arrived at the scene, she too became consumed with ecstatic joy. Thus the sublime deity forms of Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Baladeva represent this sweet pastime.
The festival of Ratha-yatra represents Lord Jagannatha’s longing to reunite with His dear devotees in Vrindavana, foremost among them, Srimati Radharani. According to tradition, the Lord gets lovesick once a year just prior to the festival. To cheer him up, His servants arrange for Him to go on a lavish procession to meet up with His devotees. Lord Jagannatha rides on a grand, three-story-high chariot, accompanied by thousands of onlookers and marching bands with scores of drummers, singers, and dancers. India’s colonial British rulers coined the term “juggernaut” from the large, heavy chariot used to celebrate this festival in the city of Jagannatha Puri.
Five hundred years ago, Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the combined incarnation of Radha-Krishna, encouraged all of His followers to celebrate Ratha-yatra with great enthusiasm. His biographies (such as Chaitanya Charitamrita) list many anecdotes surrounding the Ratha-yatra festival. It is said that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu got down on His hands and knees to scrub the Gundicha temple where Lord Jagannatha would stay at the end of the Ratha-yatra parade.
Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, was very fond of Ratha-yatra. As a child he began celebrating Ratha-yatra when he was five years old, using a small home-made cart and pulling it around the neighborhood with his friends. Later in life, from 1967 until his passing, Srila Prabhupada joined thousands of disciples in cities around the world as they celebrated elaborate Ratha-yatra chariot festivals in the streets of London, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and on New York’s prestigious Fifth Avenue.
Today, Hare Krishna devotees hold Ratha-yatra parades in many cities, usually culminating in a “Festival of India” set up in a city park, with festival tents, entertainment stages, free-feast booths, and a variety of cultural displays and exhibits. Contact your nearest Hare Krishna temple to find out about Ratha-yatras in your area.
Ratha-yatra signifies the Lord’s love for His devotees. He personally comes to visit His devotees and the public who welcome Him in the streets. Befitting the sentiment of its origins, Ratha-yatras in the Hare Krishna movement also serve as reunions for devotees who come from far and wide to participate, meeting up with old friends around their common goal of serving Lord Jagannatha, Sri Krishna.

Dhunachi is an Indian incense burner (commonly used in conjunction with Indian Frankincense or "Dhuno" for traditional ceremonies) used for one of the stages during arati, or ritualized dance worship. It is often used following the arati with the pradip (a lamp with an odd number of wicks).

The dhunachi has a flared shape and is held by a stem with a large cavity at the top, and is traditionally made of earthenware. When made of brass or silver, it needs a longer handle because of the heat. It is lit by placing burning coal at the bottom, which ignites a layer of slow-burning coconut husk, on which incense (usually resin like Indian Frankincense or "Dhuno"is sprinkled.

During the Durga puja in eastern India, it is common to have dhunuchi nritya, or a frenzied dance with the censer, to the accompaniment of feverish dhak rolls. Many puja traditions also organize contests for the best dance, where some performers may go with as many as three dhunuchis - the third one held between the teeth. Dhunachi arati also known as
"dhoop arati".

The ‘khaja’ of Puri is as legendary as the Lord Himself is. Or for that matter, the beaches of the holy town are. Since the beginning of Jagannath culture, ‘khaja’, a sweet item, has found place as one of the major ‘prasad’ of the three deities of the Jagannath Temple also known as Shree Mandir. And the love of ‘khaja’ or the aura around it has not diminished one bit, despite a sea change in the likes of people in general. Rather, day by day, the craze of ‘khaja’ has grown among the local people and tourists.
Generally, two kinds of ‘prasad’ is prepared and served to the residing deities of the temple. Sankhudibhog or the cooked prasad includes a variety of rice, lentils, curries, kheer and many other preparations without using onion and garlic. Similarly, sukhilabhog or dry prasad includes different kinds of dry and sweet confectionaries like khaja, magajaladdu and a dozen of more choices.

As history has it, the sweet and crunchy ‘khaja’ prepared from refined flour and sugar used to be prepared in large quantities and distributed among the devotees after being served to Lord Jagannath and other deities.ent declaration, the State Government has granted industry status to Khaja, thus making it flexible for the entire production and procurement process of this sweet delicacy. In order to facilitate the Khaja business, this is really an amazing move on part of the Government and the decision has duly been welcomed by both the shop owners as well as the local residents. That apart, in the near future, there might also be plans for application of Geographic Indication tag for Khaja.