Religious Tourism

KERPUJA

 Richly endowed with nature's bounties , Tripura , commonly known in popular parlance as the 'Queen of Hills', beckons tourists all through the year . The state's landscape dotted with undulating hills, lush greenery and transparent waterscape offer a veritable feast to tourists seeking ocular delight . While this is meant for travelers keen to take time off the daily drudgery of existence , Tripura's ancient culture , tradition and the preponderance of faith and devotion in the peoples psyche make the state an ideal destination for tourists seeking solace in faith and piety. What heightens the nobility of this great tradition is the peaceful co-existence of diverse faiths and cultures. Since remote antiquity Tripura has been home to all major religious faiths and this diversity is reflected in the state's society , sculpture and architecture over and above a long tradition of religious peace and amity . An integral part of Tripura's age old composite culture is perfect harmony in the sphere of religious faith , practices and devotion.

This is manifested as much in the living structures as in the archaeological remains , preserved carefully by the people and the government . Pilak, a sleepy hamlet in Belonia subdivision of south Tripura and a site preserved by the Arachaeological Survey of India (ASI), bears testimony to the co-existence of the Hindu-Buddhist culture of the 8th-12th century . Among living structures the ancient temple of 'Mata Tripureshwari' in Udaipur, headquarter of south

Tripura district, is abuzz with pious devotees throughout the year . Built by Tripura's sixteenth century king Dhanya Manikya (1490-1520) in the year 1501, the temple of 'Mata Tripureshwari' is one of the holiest Hindu shrines and one of the fifty one 'Shakti-peeths' nestled across the sub-continent. It is no wonder that His Holiness, the Shankaracharya of Sringeri Muth of Tamil Nadu had visited the temple to perform rituals of worship . Apart from this , a surfeit of temples including the celebrated ‘Bhubaneshwari temple’ on the bank of the river Gomati which figures in Rabindra Nath Tagore’s famous novel ‘Rajarshi’ add to the charm of Udaipur as a site for religious tourism.

True to Tripura’s secular and multi-cultural tradition , Badar Mokam, an important Islamic religious shrine , stands in towering glory on the bank of the river Gomati midway between ‘Bhubaneshwari’ temple and ‘Mata Tripureshwari’ temples. However, the remains of a seventeenth century mosque standing in splendid seclusion on a hillock in Rajnagar area under south Tripura’s Belonia subdivision confirms Tripura’s centuries old tradition of cross-cultural co-existence down the annals of history . The mosque at Rajnagar , discovered by local people in the year 1992 is believed to have been built by commanders of Mughal emperor Jahangir’s army that had invaded Tripura in the year 1618 .

Agartala, the capital of Tripura , shares in the pride of place of Udaipur as a centre of religious tourism . The historical temple of ‘Mata Kamaleshwari’ in Kamalasagar , thirty five kms southwest of Agartala, on the edge of the border with Bangladesh , draws thousands of devotees all through the year . This famous temple had also been constructed by king Dhanya Manikya in early sixteenth century . A number of temples constructed by Tripura’s earstwhile princely rulers around the ‘Ujjayanta palace’, abode of the kings in the heart of Agartala, invariably attract tourists keen to pay obeisance to Gods and Goddesses as part of religious rites. They include ‘Laxmi Narayan’ temple ‘Durga Bari’ temple . Jagannath temple and ‘Uma Maheshwari’ temple . Apart from the religious tradition and history , the architectural style of the temples is also distinctive and a source of attraction for tourists . Added to this is the Venuban Buddhist monastery in Kunjaban area of Agartala, built by erstwhile king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya (1923-1947). His Holiness Dalai Lama , supreme spiritual leader of Tibetan Budhists , visited this monastery on janaury 16 2007 during his three-day visit to Tripura . His Holiness also graced the Mahamuni Buddhist monastery and Buddhist Dharmadhipa school in Manu-Bankul area under Sabrum subdivision of south Tripura . The visit was a major event for the small Buddhist population of Tripura comprising mostly ethnic Chakma and Mog tribesmen.

The small Christian population of Tripura has also got beautifully constructed churches in different parts of the state . Prominent among these are the Catholic churches located at Durjaynagar area of Agartala , Belbari area , twenty five kms east of the state capital and an ancient seventeenth century church built by erstwhile Portuguese soldiers in the army of the kings of Tripura at Mariamnagar , twenty five kms northeast of the capital town . Besides, the sprawling compound of the Tripura Baptist Christian Union (TBCU) and the church , launched in A.D.Nagar area of southern Agartala by Baptist missionaries from New Zealand way back in 1938 under royal patronage also attracts tourists of religious disposition from many states , specially in the northeast.

Beyond three major hill-ranges on both sides of the serpentine Assam-Agartala national highway (No-44) lies in towering isolation Tripura’s greatest sculptural site ‘Unakoti’ . Widely known to be India’s second largest Saivite site , next only to Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu , Unakoti hills in a corner of the Kailasahar subdivision of north Tripura , have exquisite images of Lord Siva carved on them . The historicity of the sculptural work is not yet firmly established but it is generally believed by art historians that the panels of sculptural work can not be dated later than twelfth century . Needless to say , for tourists keen to enjoy works of art as well as to perform acts of piety Unakoti is a sure destination ..