AGARTALA: Tripura’s traditional Ker Puja commenced on Monday night at Ujjayanta Palace, with religious rituals held at the Rajbari premises on Tuesday. The puja will formally conclude on Wednesday morning.
Ker Puja is a two-and-a-half-day tantric and cultural festival dedicated to the Vastu deity ‘Ker’, considered the protector of the state. Unlike conventional pujas, it involves no symbolic idol. Instead, a large green bamboo is bent and shaped following specific rituals to form a symbolic representation of the deity, which is then worshipped as the guardian of the household and region.
The puja is organised to protect the state and its people from epidemics, natural disasters and evil forces, and to pray for collective peace and prosperity. During the festival, a bamboo boundary is drawn around the designated area, within which restrictions apply on movement, vehicular traffic and routine activities. The boundary is broken once the puja concludes, lifting all restrictions.
Following Tripura’s accession to India on October 15, 1949, and under the agreement signed with the then Rajmata, the state government continues to provide royal patronage and bear all expenses for Ker Puja to this day.