About the State Tripura is a state in North-East India. It shares borders with Bangladesh, Mizoram and Assam. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on its north, south and west. The length of its international border is 856 km (84 per cent of its total border). The state is connected with the rest of India by NH-44 that runs through Assam, Meghalaya, North Bengal, Kolkata and other parts of India. The former princely state of Tripura was ruled by Maharajas of Manikya dynasty. It was an independent administrative unit under the Maharaja even during the British rule in India, though this independence was qualified, being subject to the recognition of the British, as the paramount power of each successive ruler. As per Rajmala, the royal chronology of Tripura, a total of 184 kings ruled over the state before it merged with the Indian Union on October 15 1949. Since then the history of Tripura has been interspersed with various political, economical and social developments. On January 26, 1950 Tripura was accorded the status of a ‘C’ category state and on November 1, 1956, it was recognized as a Union Territory. With the sustained efforts and struggle of the people of Tripura, it gained full statehood on January 21, 1972, as per the North-East Reorganisation Act, 1971. And democratic set-up got further stretched upto the village level in 1978 with election to the local bodies that ultimately culminated in the introduction of three-tier Panchayati Raj System. On the other hand, for socio-economic development, preservation of language and culture of Tripura Tribal Areas, Autonomous District Council (ADC) was constituted in 1982 under the 7th Schedule of the Constitution and later on in 1985 it was brought under the 6th Schedule. The ADC in Tripura encompasses 68.10% of the state's total geographical territory and is home to roughly one third of the state's population. Once Tripura was a single-district state. Now keeping the administrative convenience in view, decentralization has been taken further ahead by forming eight districts, 23 subdivisions, 58 rural development blocks, 591 Gram Panchayats, eight Jilla Parishads, nine Nagar Panchayats, 10 Municipal Councils and 1 Municipal Corporation. In addition, 587 village committees are working as Gram Panchayats under 6thSchedule areas. i Tripura, nestled in a tip of the Northeast, flourishes on the bounties of nature but the beauty of the state is heightened by its human resources on the one hand and rich cultural tradition on the other. Folk culture of the tribal and non-tribal people of the state forms the backbone of Tripura's cultural tradition. This is reflected as much in the delicately rhythmic physical movement of the 'Hoza Giri' dance of the Reang tribesmen as in the collective musical recitation of 'Manasa Mangal' or 'Kirtan' (devotional songs in chorus) of the non-tribals. Apart from this, the 'Garia' dance of the tribals, organized on the occasion of New Year festivities and worship of 'Garia', and 'Dhamail' dance of the non-tribals, organized on familial occasions like wedding ceremony in rural areas as well as musical duels (Kabi Gaan) between two rival rhyme- makers on public platforms form the staple of Tripura's folk culture. Enriched by myths and legends of tribal society over the past half a millennium. Source:http://tripura.gov.in/knowtripura http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Data/Census_2011/Map/Tripura/00_Tripura.pdf (Map source) (Accessed on 26.06.2017) ii .