Gopalpurpp at 04:02, 21 February 2026

2026-02-21T04:02:51Z

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{{Short description|Shaivite Hindu pantheon}}
[[Image:CHATURDASH DEVTA TEMPLE,TRIPURA.jpg|thumb|240px|The [[Chaturdasha Temple|Chaturdasa Temple]] in Agartala]]

The '''Chaturdasa Devata''' or '''Fourteen Gods''' is the [[Shaivism|Shaivite]] [[Hinduism|Hindu]] pantheon worshipped in the [[India]]n state of [[Tripura]].

==Overview==
According to their traditions, the origin for the worship of these deities was contemporary to the setting of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', during the reign of [[Yudhishthira]]. They state that the god [[Shiva]], 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.<ref name="SharmaSharma2015">{{cite book|last1=Sharma|first1=Suresh Kant|last2=Sharma|first2=Usha|title=Discovery of North-East India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8Mq1NU9Ml4C&pg=PA3|volume=11|year=2015|publisher=Mittal Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-8324-045-1|page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Saigal|first=Omesh|title=Tripura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NGlHnr4j9IMC&pg=PA31|year=1978|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|location=Delhi|page=31}}</ref> Historically, it is believed that the indigenous [[Tripuri people]] of Tripura had adjusted their native culture and religious with that of Hinduism when the latter's influence reached the region. The non-[[Brahman]] 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.<ref name="Session1985">{{cite book|last=Bhattacharjee|first=Priyabrata|title=The Religious History of the Tipras on the Background of Karchipuja|url=http://14.139.207.116/bitstream/123456789/13017/1/The%20religious%20history%20%28P%20Bhattacharjee%29.pdf|series=Proceedings of North East India History Association|year=1985|publisher=North East India History Association|location=Agartala|pages=100–05}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

They became the family deities of the [[Manikya dynasty]], the former rulers of Tripura.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Deb|first1=Soma|last2=Sinha|first2=B.|title=Encyclopaedia of Fairs & Festivals in India: With Select Rituals, Vows, Holy Cities, Temples and Pilgrim Centers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSATAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Chaturdash+Devatas+were+the+family+deities+of+the+Manikya+dynasty%22|year=2001|publisher=Raj Publications|isbn=978-81-86208-14-4|page=122}}</ref> Human sacrifices were made in their honour under monarchs such as [[Deva Manikya]] and his son [[Vijaya Manikya]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gait|first=Edward Albert|author-link=Edward Albert Gait|title=Human sacrifices in ancient Assam|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UR1CAQAAMAAJ&q=%22It+is+there+related+that+Deva+Manikya,+who+reigned+from+1522+to+1535+A.+D.,+offered+up+some+slaves+as+a+sacrifice+to+%E2%80%9C+the+fourteen+gods,%E2%80%9D%22|journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal|volume=LXVII|issue=III|year=1898|publisher=Asiatic Society of Bengal|location=Calcutta|page=59}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Chib|first=Sukhdev Singh|title=Tripura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMItAAAAMAAJ&q=%22One+thousand+Pathan+horsemen+in+his+cavalry+revolted+and+marched+towards+Chittagong.+They+were,+however,+captured+and+sacrificed+at+the+altar+of+fourteen+gods.%22|year=1988|page=9|publisher=Ess Ess Publications|isbn=978-81-7000-039-6}}</ref> though this practice had died out by the latter half of the 1600s. The following century, [[Chaturdasha Temple|the present temple]] dedicated to the deities was built in [[Agartala]] by [[Krishna Manikya]], though an earlier structure had existed in the old capital [[Udaipur, Tripura|Udaipur]].{{CN|date=October 2022}}

Worship of the Chatursasa Devata still continues in Tripura.{{CN|date=October 2022}} 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.{{cn|date=October 2020}}

==List of deities==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|colspan="10" align=center style="background-color:skyblue" |'''Deities of the Chatursasa Devata'''<ref>{{cite book|last=Bera|first=Gautam Kumar|title=The Land of Fourteen Gods: Ethno-cultural Profile of Tripura|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=US7S9h2psRcC&pg=PA36|year=2010|publisher=Mittal Publications|location=Delhi|isbn=978-81-8324-333-9|pages=36–37}}</ref>
|-
! style="width: 40px;"|
! Name
! Brahmanic equivalent
! Role
|-
| align=center | 1.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Hara'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Shiva]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | the Destroyer
|-
| align=center | 2.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Uma'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Durga]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | Shiva's consort
|-
| align=center | 3.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Hari'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Vishnu]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | the Preserver
|-
| align=center | 4.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Ma'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Lakshmi]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | Vishnu's consort and the Goddess of prosperity
|-
| align=center | 5.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Bani'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Sarasvati]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | Goddess of knowledge
|-
| align=center | 6.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Kumara'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Kartikeya]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | God of war
|-
| align=center | 7.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Ganapa'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Ganesha]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | God of wisdom
|-
| align=center | 8.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Biddhu'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Chandra]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | the Moon
|-
| align=center | 9.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Ka'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Brahma]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | the Creator
|-
| align=center | 10.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Abdhi'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Samudra]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | God of the ocean
|-
| align=center | 11.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Ganga'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Ganga in Hinduism|Ganga]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | the river [[Ganges]]
|-
| align=center | 12.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Sekhi'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Agni]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | God of fire
|-

| align=center | 13.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Kama'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Kamadeva]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | God of love
|-
| align=center | 14.
| rowspan=1 align=center | '''Himadri'''
| rowspan=1 align=center | [[Himavat]]
| rowspan=1 align=center | the [[Himalayan mountains]]
|-
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaturdasa Devata}}
[[Category:Regional Hindu deities]]
[[Category:Shaivism]]
[[Category:Religion in Tripura]]

Chaturdasa Devata - Revision history

Gopalpurpp at 04:02, 21 February 2026