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Tripureshwari Mistress of the Three Worlds
According
to legend the name Tripura is derived form the Goddess Tripura
Sundri. Her temple stands in the sub-division of Udaipur and ranks
as the second most important shrine in North-East India.
The temple of Tripura
Sundari built in 1501 AD stands in stark simplicity overlooking a
large pond. It houses two images – one of Chotima which is
about two feet high and appears to be the original one and the other
of Tripura Sundari which is about five feet high. Both images are
very much alike having four arms and standing on the prone figure of
Shiva. They wear the Kirita Mukuta, a symbol of royalty and
prowess. She is Tripureshwari – the mistress of the three
worlds.
The legend goes that Lord
Shiva’s wife, Sati Devi jumped into the sacrificial fire at a
yagna held by her father when her family and guests belittled
her husband. Shiva, in his grief, roamed the world with the body of
his beloved wife. Wife the passage of time the body disintegrated and
the places where the parts of the body fell were blessed and became
sites of pilgrimage.
Sati Devi’s toe was
supposed to have fallen in Udaipur. Pilgrims flock there to ask for
favours and fond parents take babies there to have their heads
tonsured so as to be placed under Her protection. The temple is
fondly called Ma Bari which means ‘Mother’s home’.
It teems with worshipers all year round. They come to offer
sacrifice and attend the arti after which they feed the
turtles and fish in the pond. It is said that the ancient turtles
climb the steps of the ghat (bank) when their days are over to
die peacefully in front of the goddess.
Ma Bari is well known for
the bhog or offering which the temple kitchen serves. It is
an ‘out of this world’ meal of mutton, mixed vegetables,
dal and rice and the stalls around the temple sell a sweet
made of thickened milk called peara which pilgrims buy in
earthen pots as offering at the temple. Non-vegetarian fare at a
pilgrimage spot may be surprising but sacrifice prevailed in Tripura
from ancient times. Even human sacrifice was once part of the temple
ritual till Maharaja Govinda Manikya put a stop to it during the 17th
century. Rabindranath Tagore’s famous play, Visarjan is
based on this event.
In Tripura a curious
mixture of Hinduism and Animism exists. The Kshatriya tribal Chantai
(priest) and the Brahmin together minister to the old and new gods.
This is especially so in the Chaturdas Devta temple which is just
five kilometres from the present capital, Agartala. It is one of
the; most important pilgrimages in Tripura after Ma Bari. The temple
was built by Maharaja Krishna Manikya in the 18th century.
The original temple, it is believed, was in the ancient capital of
Udaipur. The Chaturdas Devtas are 14 heads without bodies made of an
alloy of eight metals. Legends say that they were brought to Tripura
by King Trilochana, a contemporary of Yudhisthir of the Mahabharat.
It is said that their bodies are in Assam. The deities have both
tribal and Hindu names. The tribal ones are kept secret known only
to the Chantais. They are popularly called Hara, Uma, Hari, Ma,
Bani, Kumar, Ganapati, Bidhu, Ka, Abadhi, Ganga, Sikhi, Kama and
Himadri. Throughout the year only three – hara, Uma and Hari
are worshipped, the other are taken out only once a year in July for
the Kharchi puja. Guarding the temple is the Boora Devta –
the ancient one to whom the first offerings have to be made. His
form is very primitive almost like a child’s creation of a
stick-like figure. Every July people flock to the Chaturdas Devta’s
temple for the Kharchi puja which goes on for a week. The tribal
Kshatriyas known as Chutai, Naran, Badifang and Galim officiate as
priests and see to the sacrifice of goats and fowl and offerings of
human images of clay. Alongside, the Bengali Brahmins read out form
the holy scriptures of Chandi.
Another place to visit in
Tripura during Sankranti is Unakoti. It is about 110 kilometres from
the capital, Agartala, between the sub-divisions of Dharmanagar and
Kailasahar. This site ahs been sacred to the worshipers of Shiva
since the 9th century, if not earlier. Unakoti is an
awe-inspiring experience. Some unknown sculptor has used the lush
greenery and the silent hills as a backdrop for his work. Numerous
statues are scattered over the meandering hill tracts amidst the
undergrowth and shrubs, some half-buried and others carved into the
hillsides. The most arresting are the Ganesha and the head of Shiva
which takes up a hillock. Shiva is in meditation with a natural
stream flowing out of his matted locks into a pond where pilgrims
take their holy dip.
Other Hindu deities such
as Durga, Vishnu, Ram and the heroes of the Mahabharata and Ramayana
have stood for hundreds of years among thee ancient hills. Myth has
it that Unakoti is the unfinished dreams of a dream sculptor who
wished to make it a place of pilgrimage of a crore of deities. His
dream remained incomplete for just one image – thus the site was
called Unakoti which means one less than a crore. Another romantic
tale is that these images are the petrified forms of gods who stopped
here to rest. They were on their way to Varanasi with Lord Shiva and
they halted here for the night but were to move on before sunrise or
they would turn into stone. Shiva was the only one who awoke before
dawn and continued his journey. His companions slept on to lie there
forever. So we have Uakoti. If Shiva had not left this place, it is
said, there would have been a crore of gods and Uakoti would have
been a Koti Tirtha like Varanasi.
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