History Of Unakoti

Place Details: Unakoti, meaning "one less than a crore" in Bengali, is a magnificent open-air art gallery and a Shaivite pilgrimage site. Located in the Raghunandan hills, it features massive rock-cut carvings and stone images dating back to the 7th–9th centuries. According to legend, Lord Shiva w as traveling to Kashi with one crore gods and goddesses. When they failed to wake up before sunrise, Shiva cursed them to turn into stone, resulting in the carvings. The site is famous for the Unakotiswara Kal Bhairava, a 30-foot tall central Shiva head with a stunning headdress. The entire hillside is covered with intricate reliefs of Hindu deities like Ganesha, Durga, and Nandi. The natural landscape, with its lush green forests and a mountain stream forming small waterfalls, adds to the mystical aura. It is often referred to as the "Angkor Wat of the North-East" due to its scale and artistic significance. The site is now a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. The journey to Unakoti takes you through beautiful tea gardens and rural landscapes. It is a place where mythology, history, and nature converge in a spectacular fashion. More