24/08/2025
When the dazzling stage of the Miss Universe India National Costume Show lit up last week, Khumjar Debbarma the Miss Universe Tripura represented Tripura by wearing a Rignai themed costume which reflected the Tiprasa People and the Tiprasa Culture. But just a year earlier, in 2024, Chayanika Debnath on the same stage in the same pageant represented Tripura with a different culture that was criticised to represent West Bengal more than Tripura, but nonetheless it was Tripura that was represented through a costume inspired by Ma Durga the most prominent Hindu Goddess in Bengali Culture.
This contradicting showcase of Tripura’s culture on such a prestigious stage was bound to spark controversy. The question inevitably arose: Which culture truly defines Tripura’s identity?
To understand this better, we need some historical background.
For the past seven decades, Tripura has been shaped by the intersection of two dominant cultural narratives: 1) The indigenous Tiprasa heritage, native to the land. 2) The Bengali cultural influence, which arrived through migration and historical integration. Both have left an indelible mark on the state’s festivals, politics, and social life.
Demographically, Tripura today is majority Bengali, making up about 70% of the population, while Tiprasas constitute around 26%, and the remaining 4% consists of smaller tribal and non-tribal communities. But this was not always the case.
In the first census of independent India (1951), the population was roughly equal between Bengalis and Tiprasas. A decade earlier, Tiprasas accounted for 60%, while Bengalis were around 37%. The real demographic shift occurred after 1951. By the 1961 census, the numbers had dramatically changed: Tiprasas dropped to 30%, while Bengalis rose to 68%.
The 1960s also brought another blow: Bengali was declared the sole official language of Tripura, while Kokborok, the language of the Tiprasas, was denied equal status until a decade later. Since then, the race for cultural representation has been ongoing.
Nationally and globally, Tripura’s image has often been tied to its tribal culture or Tiprasa Culture. Traditional dances and folk songs from the state are almost always associated with the Tiprasa people.
However, that narrative has frequently been challenged. A decade ago, this was done subtly. But since the BJP-led government came to power in 2018, cultural representation seems increasingly skewed toward Bengali culture.
One striking example was the 2025 Republic Day Parade, at National Capital New Delhi. Tripura’s tableau was supposed to showcase Kharchi Puja, a major Tiprasa festival. Yet, a Bengali dance form, culturally very unrelated to Kharchi Puja, was included, sparking widespread criticism and heated debate back home.
This duality has often created tension, between assimilation and preservation, between forced mainstream narratives and indigenous voices.
The Miss Universe India platform has highlighted this cultural conflict vividly. Beauty pageants are more than just glitter and glamour, they are battlegrounds of identity politics. When contestants walk the stage in national costumes, they narrate the story of their homeland.
For Tripura, this dual representation is deeply symbolic: The Rignai-inspired costume speaks for the Tiprasa people, whose culture predates colonial and post-colonial migrations and forms a visible face of Tripura in India’s popular imagination.
The Durga costume, though iconic in Bengali-Hindu culture, resonates more with West Bengal than with Tripura. Yet, it too claims legitimacy as part of Tripura’s cultural reality today.
Thus, the stage becomes more than a fashion ramp—it transforms into a contested arena of cultural legitimacy.
Which of these should stand as the authentic cultural face of Tripura? The answer is neither simple nor singular.
Tripura’s identity cannot be reduced to a single costume or a single culture. It is a mosaic of histories, negotiations, and coexistence.
Why This Debate Matters is - Representation shapes perception. When India and the world see Tripura through only one cultural lens, it risks silencing other narratives. For the Tiprasa people, visibility is not just about aesthetics, it is about soft power, cultural preservation, and political recognition.
At the same time, acknowledging Bengali culture is equally important, as it reflects the lived realities of contemporary Tripura.
The real challenge lies in finding a balanced representation, one that does not erase any community but instead celebrates the state’s plurality.
The race for representation should not be about exclusion but about expansion, ensuring that every culture in Tripura has its rightful space in the narrative, without misrepresentation or forced assimilation.
