Unakoti group of bas-relief sculptures, Tripura, India.jpg
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Unkoti Hill is a sculptural emblem and ancient Shaivite place that hosts approx ''ninety-nine lakh ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine''
rock carvings A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
figures and images of gods and goddesses. It is a place of worship with huge rock reliefs celebrating Shiva. Unakoti literally means "one less one
crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
" or "koti" in Hindi and
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
. In local Kokborok language, it is called Subrai Khung. It is the prime tourist spot of Unakoti District, in the
Kailashahar Kailashahar (or Kôilāśohôr) is the fourth largest urban area in the north eastern state of India, Tripura, located near northwest Bangladesh border. It is a Municipal council and the administrative center of the Unakoti district, this city ...
Subdivision of the North-eastern Indian state of Tripura.


Iconography

File:Unakoti 1.jpg, Shiva with the waters of Ganga flowing from his locks. File:Unakoti 5.jpg, Close up of the sculpture of Shiva. File:Unakoti (Scorpian ad).JPG, Image of Durga. File:Ganesha, Unakoti ( ঊনকোটি).JPG, Image of Gigantic Ganesha File:Unakotiswara Kal Bhairava,Unakoti ( ঊনকোটি).JPG, Image of KalBhairava File:Unakoti 6.jpg, A wall of stone with reliefs. The images found at Unakoti are of two types: namely rock-carved figures and stone images. Among the rock-cut carvings, the central Shiva head and gigantic Ganesha figures deserve special mention. The central Shiva head known as Unakotiswara Kal Bhairava is about 30 feet high including an embroidered head-dress which itself is 10 feet high. On each side of the head-dress of the central Shiva, there are two full-size female figures - one of Durga standing on a lion and another female figure on the other side. In addition, three enormous images of Nandi Bull are found half-buried in the ground. There are various other stone as well as rock-cut images at Unakoti.


Legend

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva once spent a night here en route to Kashi. 99,99,999 gods and goddesses followed him. He had asked his followers to wake up before sunrise and make their way towards Kashi. Unfortunately, none awoke, except Lord Shiva himself. Before he set out for Kashi alone, he put a curse on the others, turning them to stone and that is how the site got its name. Local tribals believe that the maker of these idols was Kallu Kumhar. He was a devotee of Parvati and wanted to accompany Shiva-Parvati to their abode on Mount Kailash. On Parvati's insistence, Shiva agreed to take Kallu to Kailash, but for this a condition was kept that he would have to make one crore idols of Shiva in one night. Kallu got involved in this work like a man of his tune. But when dawn broke, the idols turned out to be one less than one crore. Adamant on getting rid of this trouble named Kallu, Shiva left Kallu the potter with his idols in Unakoti, making this an excuse and kept on walking.


Festival

Every year a big fair popularly known as Ashokastami Mela is held in the month of April. The festival is visited by thousands of pilgrims. Another smaller festival takes place in January.


Location

Unakoti lies 178 km to the northeast from
Agartala Agartala () is the capital city of the Indian state of Tripura, and is one of the largest cities in northeast India. The city is governed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation. The city is the seat of the Government of Tripura. It is located on ...
which has the closest airport, 8 km to the east from
Kailashahar Kailashahar (or Kôilāśohôr) is the fourth largest urban area in the north eastern state of India, Tripura, located near northwest Bangladesh border. It is a Municipal council and the administrative center of the Unakoti district, this city ...
, 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 Dharmanagar railway station is the main railway station in North Tripura district, as well as Tripura state also. It is the oldest railway station in the state. It serves Dharmanagar Dharmanagar or (''Dhôrmônôgôr'') is a town with a mu ...
on the
Lumding–Sabroom section The Lumding–Sabroom section is a railway line under Lumding railway division of Northeast Frontier Railway zone of Indian Railways. It is a single broad-gauge track from Lumding in Nagaon District of Assam state to Agartala in West Tripura ...
. 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 PM.


Preservation

The site has suffered centuries of neglect causing degradation and loss of considerable scale to the rock art. Since its adoption by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) as a heritage site, the situation has slightly improved, though a lot of work including substantial excavation remains to be undertaken. The Centre has recently granted Rs 12
crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
to the state for developing the area, 178  km from here, as a major tourist destination. The site was added to the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 2022.


See also

*
Hindu pilgrimage sites In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a very long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred area or shrine of importance to innate faith. Members of every major religion participate in pilgrima ...
* National Geological Monuments of India * List of Hindu temples *
Tourism in India Tourism in India is important for the country's economy and is growing rapidly. The World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated or 5.8% of India's GDP and supported 32.1 million jobs in 2021. Even though, thes ...
* Yatra


References

UNAKOTI: A HISTORICAL PLACE IN TRIPURA!THE MYSTERIOUS UNAKOTI: AN OPEN AIR ART GALLERY IN TRIPURA!
{{Authority control Unakoti district Archaeological sites in Tripura Hindu pilgrimage sites Tourist attractions in Tripura Tourism in Northeast India Rock art in India Rock reliefs in India Shiva in art