हिंदीOn this day
Ruined

Unakoti

A forested hillside near Kailashahar where giant faces of Shiva and the devas are carved into the rock, the largest a Shiva head about 30 feet high.

Built: c. 7th–9th century rock-cut reliefsWhere: TripuraDeity: Bhagwan Shiva as Unakotishvara Kala Bhairava24.32° N, 92.06° E
  1. c. 7th–9th century
Photo: Sanjibroy56 · CC BY-SA 4.0

01One less than a crore

Una-koti means one less than a crore. The katha told in Tripura: Bhagwan Shiva was travelling to Kashi with a crore of devas and halted here for the night, telling them all to rise before dawn. Only Shiva woke. He went on alone, and the sleepers were turned to stone, so that one crore less one images remain. Another telling names a sculptor, Kallu Kumhar, who hoped to follow Shiva and Parvati to Kailash if he carved a crore of images in a night, and fell one short.

02The carvings

The central relief is Unakotishvara Kala Bhairava, a Shiva head with a carved headdress, flanked by Durga on a lion and Ganga on her makara. Nearby stand three great Ganesh figures, Nandi half-buried, and many smaller heads along the stream. They are usually dated between the 7th and 9th centuries. The Archaeological Survey of India protects the site. The Ashokashtami mela in March–April brings thousands of pilgrims who bathe in the stream before darshan.

The life of this place

  1. c. 7th–9th centuryRock reliefs of Shiva, Ganesh and the Devi carved on the hillside.
Visiting

8 km from Kailashahar in Unakoti district, about 180 km north-east of Agartala; dry months are best for the slippery steps.

Nearby

Shri Shail Shakti Peetha (Mahalakshmi Bhairabi Griba Peetha), SylhetStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Shri Shail Shakti Peetha (Mahalakshmi Bhairabi Griba Peetha), Sylhet

At Joinpur, about 3 km south-east of Sylhet town across the Surma, Bengal’s lists place the Shri Shail peetha where Sati’s neck fell. The Devi is Mahalakshmi, and the place is called the Griba Peetha, the seat of the neck.

Chaturdasha Devata Temple, Old AgartalaStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Chaturdasha Devata Temple, Old Agartala

The royal temple of the Fourteen Gods at Old Agartala, the family deities of the Manikya kings and of the Tripuri people, worshipped as fourteen heads of metal. Its Kharchi Puja in July is the great festival of Tripura.

Bhubaneswari Temple, Udaipur (Tripura)Standing
The Mughal era and the resistance

Bhubaneswari Temple, Udaipur (Tripura)

A small Bengal-roofed Devi temple on the Gomati beside the ruined palace of Govinda Manikya in the old Tripura capital of Udaipur. Rabindranath Tagore set his novel Rajarshi and his play Bisarjan here.

Tripura Sundari Temple, UdaipurStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Tripura Sundari Temple, Udaipur

The Matabari of Tripura, a Shakti Peetha on a low hill shaped like a tortoise’s back, built by Maharaja Dhanya Manikya in 1501. Tradition says the right foot of Mata Sati fell here.