Tripura CM’s Office books air tickets; CM Biplab Deb, wife take part in rituals

Mysuru:  Impressed by the Cauvery Aarati performed by Yuva Brigade in Srirangapatna on the night of Oct. 17, on the auspicious day of Tula Sankramana, the team members were invited to Tripura for a similar feat at Mata  Tripureshwari Temple and the invite came from none other than Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb’s Office.

The team from Mysuru was flown to Tripura and the Tripura CM’s Office had booked air tickets for them. The two-day Aarati as part of Deepavali celebrations was inaugurated by the CM and he also performed the ‘Mangal Aarati’ at Kalyan Sagar Lake within the temple premises on the evening of Nov. 4 along with his wife Niti Deb.

Lakhs of devotees participated in the Mangal Aarati and the rituals too were conducted by priests from Nanjangud. The Yuva Brigade team has been performing the Kapila Aarati and Cauvery Aarati for a couple of years on the lines of Ganga Aarati held in the North. The Yuva Brigade’s task, attracting thousands each year,  has been going viral on social media and this caught the attention of Tripura CM. Mata Tripureshwari Temple is located at Udaipur in Gomati district, Tripura which is about 55 kms away from the state capital Agartala. Every year, nearly 2 lakh devotees visit this holy pilgrimage, considered as one of the 51 Shakti Peeths across the nation.

Popularly known as Matabari, the shrine is set upon a small hillock, since the shape of a hillock resembles the hump of a tortoise (Kurma) and this shape called Kurmapṛṣṭhākṛti is considered the holiest possible site for a Shakti temple, hence also bestowing the name of  Kurma Pīṭha.

This year, Gomati District Administration sources claimed that the number of devotees crossed more than 2.5 lakh. This unanticipated crowd occurred due to easing of COVID-19 norms, and special trains routing from Dharmanagar, Agartala and Sabroom to Udaipur.

 The Yuva Brigade team comprised priest N.V. Krishna Jois, Srikanth, S. Ravi and Ranjith. As part of the Mangal Aarati, rituals like Ganga Puja, Veda chanting and Sanskrit shloka recital were performed. Happy with the way the rituals were conducted, the Tripura Government has announced that every year, the Yuva Brigade team will perform the Mangal Aarati.