Unakoti, Tripura

Unakoti, Tripura

Unakoti hill, literally meaning one less a koti in Bengali, hosts an ancient Shaivite place of worship with huge rock reliefs celebrating Shiva.

It is the prime tourist spot of Unakoti District Tripura in the Kailashahar Subdivision in the North-eastern Indian state of Tripura.It is Shiva pilgrimage and dates back to 7th – 9th centuries if not earlier.

Architecture

Unakoti is a historic Shaiva pilgrimage spot and dates back to 7th – 9th centuries if not earlier. While the site’s rock carvings, murals with primitive beauty form the chief attraction, the natural environment, mountain scenery and waterfalls are an added attraction. As per Hindu theological traditions, when Lord Shiva was going to Kashi along with one crore gods and goddesses including him, he made a night halt at this location. He asked all the gods and goddesses to wake up before sun rise and proceed for Kashi. It is said that in the morning, except Shiva himself, no one else could get up so set out for Kashi himself cursing the others to become stone images. As a result, we have one less than a crore stone images and carvings at Unakoti. These carvings are located at a landscaped forest area with green vegetation all around.

There is also another story that suggests about a blacksmith who wished to live with Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati on the Kailash Mountain. Lord Shiva had bet him that if he could make a crore (koti) idols of Lord Shiva, with in the period of one night, He would take Kallu, the blacksmith, with him to Kailash Parvath. When counted in the morning, the idols were one less than a koti (crore). This made the name of the place be changed to Unakoti, literally meaning one less than a crore.

Legend / Local stories

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. It gained full statehood on January 21, 1972, as per the North-East Reorganisation Act, 1971.

Initially a one district state, was trifurcated into three Districts w.e.f. 01.09.1970. The North Tripura District started functioning in the office of the Sub-divisional officer at Kailashahar and partly at Kumarghat, later the whole office was shifted to Kailashahar. The Collectorate was shifted to the newly constructed complex at Gournagar on 13.11.1987.

Subsequently, North Tripura District has been bifurcated and a new District namely “Dhalai District” has been inaugurated on 14.04.1995 with district head quarter at Ambassa.

On 21.01.2012 the decision to further bifurcate North Tripura District was accepted and the district “Unakoti District” was created with its headquarter at Kailashahar.

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How to Reach:

Unakoti lies 178 km to the northeast from Agartala which has the closest airport, 8 km to the east from Kailashahar, district headquarters of Unakoti district, 148 km to the south-east from Silchar. The nearest railway station is 19.6 km away at Dharmanagar railway station on the Lumding–Sabroom section.From Dharmanagar railway station it takes about 30–40 minutes by car.Travelling from capital town Agartala has become much easier nowadays. The morning train from Agartala reaches dharmanagar before 10 am. The afternoon train from Dharmanagar reaches Agartala by 8 p.m.

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