Unakoti (Bengali pronunciation: [unɔkoʈi]), famously known as Angkor Wat of the North-East,is a sculptural emblem and ancient Shaivite place that hosts rock carvings 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” or “koti” in Hindi and Bengali. In the local Kokborok language, it is called Subrai Khung. It is yet to be recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site (put in tentative list in 2022) and the prime tourist spot of Unakoti District, in the Kailashahar Subdivision of the North-eastern Indian state of Tripura.
In the name of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple, Unakoti is called “Angkor Wat of the North-East” . These sculptures are carved on a hill of the Raghunandan hills of Tripura. It is known that there are about ninety-nine lakh ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine idols that can be found here.
Description
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 scriptures, 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.
Image of KalBhairava
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