When I first got to know about this mysterious mountain of Tripura named Unakoti, I was amazed. I could not believe it when I saw those amazingly carved sculptures all over the rocks that came out of nowhere overnight.
When I got to know about it, I could not stop myself from knowing more and more about this wonderful and mysterious mountain of Tripura. After doing some research I got to know that Unakoti means 1 less than a crore.
This was again incredible and fascinating to know that around 135 km from Agartala, there are 99,99,999 sculptures without any creator. Yes, can you believe this? I could not believe that there is not even a single person or thing not even these sculptures of Unakoti itself that can tell who carved on these huge rocks.
Some finite studies have been done on these sites which date these sculptures back to the 8th or 9th century CE. Even after centuries and decades, there is not any conclusive evidence that can tell anything about the creator of this masterpiece.
Is Unakoti a cursed site?
As per the legend and locals’ belief, there is a story which tells us that once Lord Shiva with 99,99,999 other Gods were going to Kashi. Kashi is also one of the oldest cities in the world and is currently known as Varanasi or Banaras.
Coming back to the story, when Lord Shiva was crossing this area, it was almost sunset time and all the Gods got tired of travelling such a long distance. Hence, Lord Shiva asked them to take a full night’s rest at this mountain but said that they need to get up with the first rays of the rising Sun.
Back then, the Unakoti was known as Raghunandan hills. The next day when Lord Shiva woke up, he found that all the other Gods were still sleeping hence he cursed all of them out of anger. He cursed all of them to convert into rocks as they could not get up as Lord Shiva has directed them to.
Therefore, as Lord Shiva himself continued his journey to Kashi, there were other Gods left in the form of rocks in the number of 1 less than a crore.
Although it is a very popular legend there is one problem with it. It says that Lord Shiva cursed all of them to become a rock then why Lord Shiva is also present in the form of a rock at Unakoti! This sculpture, made by the Bas relief technique is the most magnificent among all of them.
Are the sculptures of Unakoti Man-Made?
Another popular legend says that there was a human named Kallu who was also a sculpturist. When Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were going to Kailash, Kallu expressed his wish to come along. Lord Shiva did not want to do so but when Kallu insisted, he asked him to carve 1 crore sculptures before Dawn.
In the morning, Kallu was able to make 1 less than 1 crore sculpture overnight and hence it was named Unakoti. This legend seems to be more realistic but still making 99,99,999 sculptures overnight is a miraculous thing.
What does the history of Tripura tell us about Unakoti?
According to Rajmala, which is the chronicles of the Kings of Tripura written in Bengali around the 15th century. When the Tripurin Kings of Tibet which is near Kailash moved to the present day of Tripura. They requested Lord Shiva to come along to Tripura but Lord Shiva refused it.
Then the kings started praying to Lord Shiva and then the kind-hearted Shiva became happy and agreed to come with them along with all the other Gods. Later on, they all went back to their own places but to keep the promise Lord Shiva left the evidence behind. Hence, what now we see as sculptures, were once actual Gods residing at the place.
In the local language of the Tripuri people which is Kokborok, Unakoti means Subrai Khung. Lord Shiva is also known as Subrai Raja as per the locals. The people of Tripura were so devoted towards Lord Shiva that they believed that the 47th King the Subrai Raja also known as Triluchna was the incarnation of Lord Shiva himself.
The locals believe that after Kailash, Tripura is the 2nd home of Lord Shiva. There can be more legends and stories behind this mysterious mountain of Tripura but still, the one behind is unknown.
Unakoti: Also known as the Angkor Wat of the Northeast, competing for the UNESCO World Heritage Tag
The government of India along with the ASI have approached UNESCO to provide Unakoti with the title of World Heritage site; says the report. The Unakoti Rock Cut Sculptures and Reliefs are already on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. The central government has released a fund of 12 crores to develop the area as a better tourist destination. The state government is also working along to attract more and more tourists.
How to Reach?
In order to reach Unakoti, you need to reach the Agartala railway station or the Agartala airport(if coming by air). From there you can either go to Kumarghat or Dharamnagar.
The nearest railway stations to Unakoti are Kumarghat and Dharmnagar. One can easily explore this masterpiece in one day of hiking so if you do not want to stay at night come to Kumarghat. From Kumarghat Railways station there are shared and reserved taxis as well as buses available for Unakoti.
If you want to stay then you should go to Dharamnagar as it has better accommodation facilities than Kumarghat. I would suggest either reserving a taxi or taking a shared taxi from Kumarghat. Buses are not that good as they won’t take you till the end and will leave in the middle of the way.
Reserving a taxi for a full day can cost you around 1000 to 1200rs.
The best way to reach Unakoti
The best way for me to reach Unakoti is by train which is also budget-friendly. For that, you can reach the Agartala railway station and then visit Kumarghat. Kumarghat is just 4 to 5 km from Unakoti. You can just take any shared taxi from Kumarghat and start your day.
Conclusion
Isn’t it amazing that these sculptures are carved out on the rocks? It is called the Bas relief technique in which the image is carved on the same rock on which it is lying. But there are only a few sculptures left now so what happened to the others?
As per the locals, there was an earthquake in the year 1960 that hit Tripura massively. Due to the earthquake, many sculptures went upside down under the mountains. People say that some of the broken sculptures were also stolen.
We know about Stonehenge or Malta or the Easter Islands but somehow we forgot to know about these marvels. The problem is that we know too much about the Kings who Invaded India but less about the Kings and Kingdoms who build India.
Isn’t this place worth knowing? Isn’t it deserve a visit? Share this information with every Indian and make them proud as I did when I got to know about the Angkor Wat of Northeast.
