NeerMahal Festival - It Is One Of The Most Expected Annual Festival In West Tripura District

 WATER FESTIVALS

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WEST TRIPURA DISTRICT

Festivals in Tripura provides no less scope to promote tourism in the north eastern state. Neermahal festival is one of the much-awaited annual events where the tourists flock to Rudrasagar to share the joy of water sports.

“Neermahal” literary means a water palace and it was built by none other than Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya in 1930. The venue is Melaghar, a 50 km away from the capital city of Agartala where the 3 day long festival beckons thousands of domestic and foreign tourists in December. Apart from water sports cultural shows are lined up to pull crowd in the evening.

The most striking feature of the annual tourism event is the boat race on the beautiful Rudrasagar lake. Boats of different shapes and sizes are deployed in the race where even the tourists can’t remain mute. 

Defying a chilly weather, the people from far flung areas of the country join the race that promotes the water sports event jointly organized by the state government and the fishermen cooperative society. The spotlight then falls on the fishermen who have been fetching livelihood from this huge 83-year old lake. 

Another salient feature of the festival is the swimming competition. This segment draws the participants from the outside the state which pulls huge crowd.

Thus, the festival gives the lake a new identify in the country’s tourism map. The huge water body turns home for lakhs of migratory birds to keep chirping from dusk to dawn. 

The tourists are deeply impressed by the white marble structure with considerable space for good air flow. Boats remain ready for the visitors to enter the floating royal palace comprising 15 royal cabins, a courtyard, chess playing room and conference room where the king addresses his people.

But how the wonderful palace was built which bears striking resemblance to the Jagniwas palace in Rajasthan? The Tripura king got the inspiration from the Mughal architecture to have erected the palace. The he got it constructed deploying Martin & Burns, a British company in 1921 blending Hindu and Muslim architecture.

Festival begins from Saturday, September 3, 2016 to Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Tripura Sundari Temple - It Has A Quadrangle Formed Hut With A Sharp Dome

TRIPURA SUNDARI TEMPLE 

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AGARTALA

Tripura Sundari Temple is situated about 67 kms from Agartala. This temple is also known as Matabari and located in the ancient capital, Udaipur on the top of hillock Dhanisagar in the middle of the 16th century.

 The deity is Goddess Kali.

This is one of the 51 Pithas mentioned in the Tantras. The temple is served by red robed priests and is the location of the large fair during Diwali festival in October-November.

Beyond this age-old temple there is a big tank called Dhani Sagar, the abode of old tortoises, sacred to pilgrims for food offerings.

It is said that when any of these wise tortoises is to die, it approaches the altar of the temple and breathes its last.The temple has a square shaped sanctum that resembles to typical Bengali hut with a conical dome.

 It was constructed in 1501 by Maharaja Dhanya Manikya Debbarma. The temple has two identical images of the deity which is known as Tripura Sundari (5 feet tall) and Chhotima (2 feet tall).

The temple structure is also known as Kurma Pitha as the temple premises resembles kurma or tortoise.

Durga puja is celebrated joyously in Tripura Sundari temple.

Every year during Diwali, a popular fair is organized near the temple which is visited by lakhs of pilgrims.

People come here to take bathe in the fish-filled tank which is located near the temple.

Fairs are also held on the occasion of ‘Uttarayan Sankranti’ and ‘Shiva –Chaturdashi’.

Daily, the goddess is offered with ‘anna-bhog’ (rice). Besides this, various types of seasonal fruit is also offered to the goddess.

By Air

 The closest airport is at Agartala from where temple can be reached by road.

By Train

The nearest rail head is Kumarghat which is 140 km from Agartala. From here buses and taxis are available to reach the temple.

By Road

 The temple is located at 55 km from Agartala, the capital of Tripura. It is well connected by all towns of Tripura. The nearby bus stand is Matabari.