one less than a crore

legend has it that Lord Shiva halted at this place for a night on his way to kashi. 

traveling with the gods, he instructed them to wake up early in the morning so that they could leave for their destination. 

the next morning when they didn't wake up before sunrise, they angered the Lord who transformed them to stones. 

and that's exactly where the gods stand today facing really intrepid tourists and young boys from agartala - who come with their music systems, bottles of alcohol and lots of food to have a big picnic.

unakoti literally translated to *one less than a crore*; this less known destination in a lesser known state of Tripura is definitely worth a visit - if you ever in your lifetime get the opportunity to come to this part of India.

a long and arduous drive from the state capital of agartala will take you to this sacred place which boasts of the most mind blowing rock cut images and stone carvings of Hindu gods and goddesses - dating back to probably the 7th century.

this deteriorating place is managed by the Archaeological Survey Of India - to explore the place you have to walk up and down the stairs built around the images.  

many years back I had seen glimpses of this place in a travel show - but seeing the large rock-cut images of Shiva right at the entrance of the place left us spellbound. 

known as Unakotiswara Kal Bhairava - this central Shiva head measuring over 30 feet and a elaborate crown of 10 feet  is probably the largest of its kind in India. 

on the sides are two large female images; one of them being goddess durga on a lion 

after seeing the images from a distance as you get closer, you begin to appreciate the difficulty of carving them on a vertical surface.maybe the legend is true!

the vehicle of Lord Shiva - Nandi Bull is half submerged slightly away from the central Shiva head

there is a small temple at the top and some statues which have been left abandoned. a lonely priest runs the temple alone who  isn't used to people visiting the temple

the most beautiful part of the place can get missed out if you do not explore all the steps leading to the bottom, where a small waterfall trickles around the images of three elephants - representing Lord Ganesha. 

after spending a lot of time in the place as we climbed up the stairs to the exit, it was clear that it would be highly unlikely that we would ever get to visit this place again.

  

photographs don't do justice to the beauty of this place. pictures taken in the memory disk of my mind will always stay with me and to have breathed the air in such an exotic place has been life's gift to me.