Amidst tight security the state administration has geared up to celebrate the weeklong festival of Kharchi Puja at Chaturdash Devata Mandir in Khayerpur from July 14 next and Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha will inaugurate the festival and fair, which will come to end on July 20.

Giving details of the festival, the chairman of the festival committee and local MLA Ratan Chakraborty said,

Chakraborty said this year the festival will be celebrated with the theme of "Sabuj ei Bhabishyat" (Green is the Future), highlighting the importance of ecological balance. In line with this theme, approximately 15,000 plants will be distributed to devotees during the festival days .

Chakraborty added that various departments of the state government, including the Public Works Department (PWD) and medical services, will be actively involved for the services of devotees.

He said, large number of security forces along with Traffic personnel and plain clothes police would be deployed in the festival area. State police will install many CCTV cameras and watch towers in the festival premises and about 700 to 800 TSR will be deployed along with volunteers of scouts and guides.

The government has taken massive arrangements to celebrate the weeklong festival with new thoughts and facilities for lakhs of devotees. All the roads connected with fourteen deity temple from Khayerpur will be  renovated and illuminated with colourful lights along with the main temple .

Giving details of the festival, the chairman of the festival committee and local MLA Ratan Chakraborty said, above 1000 stalls to be distributed to vendors, small and medium business establishments including those from other states of the country through an open lottery. An exhibition by several departments of the state government would exhibit the developmental activities of the state during fair days.

Several cultural and folk programmes would be performed by various artists every night, said Chakraborty, adding that during fair days awareness programmes and street dramas  would also be organized.

Like previous year, this year also the festival committee would also distribute free food for monks in all seven days and ritual ablation ‘Ghat’ at the bank of river Howrah also renovated.

Kharchi Puja symbolizes a unique mixture of Hinduism and animism as the 14 Gods and Goddess are identified by both the faiths with different names. The puja will be performed by tribal priest ‘Chantai’ and is basically a tribal religious ritual. But at the same time it is also virtually a Hindu Puja with lakhs of devotees from both the tribal and non-tribal communities thronging and taking part in the religious activities. Kharchi also symbolizes the age-old unity of both tribal and non-tribal people of Tripura.