The sculpture mountain is on the way to nine crores

The whole world has almost stopped in this global epidemic of coronavirus. All the plans of the wanderlust have been thwarted. Yet people live in hope. I dream, I will go out again when the world is healthy. Reminiscing about travel, viewing pictures and stories in this time of boundless danger. Just a few days before the spread of Corona in the country, I went to Tripura, the smallest state of the Seven Sisters. Tripura can be one of the choices as a nearby destination outside the country, which many may not know. In the post-corona period, you can travel from Tripura in a short time and at a low cost. For the reader today, Smriti’s Diary is the story of Tripura State’s 900 journeys. Hopefully, it will give you some peace of mind during this time of confinement.

Although it was planned for many days, there was no time due to various obstacles. Finally arranged a short vacation and finally reached Tripura the previous day. As planned, I left for Agartala station before dawn. I got Subhash Da, an agar trader from Assam, as a companion from the hotel. Dada will go to Assam and we will go to Kumarghat in Kailashahar. In the middle, I picked up my younger brother Ayan in the auto. Ayan Tripura has come on the invitation of the State Government Tourism Board.

I reached the train station shortly. The whole area is bustling even in this dark night. People of various classes and professions have gathered to go to their destination. I bought the Kanchenjunga ticket and got into a compartment with Subhash Dar. In the meantime, the morning light has started to shine. Two elderly brothers sitting facing each other by the window. They are going to visit their sister’s house in Assam. Even at this age, the unbreakable family bond of siblings fascinates me.

Tripura is roughly surrounded on three sides by Bangladesh, and on one side by Assam and Mizoram. Being close to the border with Bangladesh, there are more similarities in the language and way of life here. Many had their ancestors in the territory of Bangladesh. According to that source, many people have close relatives. I listen to the memorable stories of those whom I meet. Subhash Dar also talked about various topics including Sugandhi Agar.

After an hour, the train was running at full speed along the hilly road. I passed through three tunnels one by one. It is a wonderful experience. As it was an express train, I reached Kumarghat within a couple of hours. After getting down from the train, I took a reserve auto to Unkoti. This side of Tripura borders our Moulvibazar Kamalganj. The touch of development is not that much. The road on the way is also quite bad compared to other areas.

On the way, I saw women coming in groups with pitchers on their shoulders. Auto driver Sourjit said, about the shortage of fresh water. After crossing the river Manu, our auto drove along the hilly winding road. After an hour, I reached the front door of Unkoti. We are probably the first tourists today.

Climbing up the stairs, I saw the rock sculpture mountain that I wanted so much. One has to stare at these hundreds of years old sculptures carved out of rocky mountains. What a wonderful human handiwork. People can do anything if they want to.

Nine crore means one less than crore. This mysterious hilly area is located 178 km from Agartala city. There are many myths and stories about Unkoti. The most popular of these is that Lord Shiva of the Sanatan religions stopped here on his way to Kashi. The number of gods including him was one crore. All of them are arranged to spend the night in this mountain. When returning the next morning, Shiva was annoyed that none of the tired gods woke up. Nine million gods were turned into stone by his curse.

However, according to historians, these nine crore sculptures were created in the eighth or ninth century. Notable among the idols carved on the hill are the idols of Shiva and the gigantic Kalabhairava. Apart from this, Ganesh, Durga, Vishnu, Ram, Ravana, Hanuman idols are also seen. Although many have been destroyed by the evolution of time, most of them are still intact.

Until the previous day, everyone except the banker Manoj Da of Agartala said, I will not be able to return after seeing it in a day. I took the challenge even though I had less time. Everything happened according to time, so by noon I was on my way back after seeing the nine crores. As it was a holiday, the train was quite empty. According to the train schedule, I can reach Agartala in the evening. Thinking about where else to spend this night without passing Agartala. That story was not picked up for the next episode.