Kali Temple - Tripura

By Mukti Sharma

About 80 km. from the capital Agartala, the south district of Tripura, Assam boasts about a very old Kali Temple, which according to the Hindu mythology is one of the 51 places where the pieces of Sati felt after her corpse was severed to pieces by Lord Vishnu, the protector when Lord Shiva, the destroyer began the 'tandar', heralding the doom of the world.

The temple is visited by several millions of Hindu devotees every year who believe that the duty has the power to grant wishes to her devotees followers. People gather in huge numbers and it is interesting to see a plethora of expressions resulting from either a fulfilled desire to vegetables to appear the goddess and I have sum foreign tourists standing in awe witnessing the act. Gothic to some, but intriguing no doubt.

Apart from the multitude of masses that turn up, the destination is well known for its scenic beauty. In contrast to the hub-pub on the temple stairs, there is lake in the temple premises, which in peaceful & tranquil and yet not devoid of activity. The lake is the home of a variety of fishes, with some of the age of 100 yrs. There is a tortoise graveyard and folklore has it that when it is time for a turtle to die, it climbs up the temple stairs to reach the deity before it breathes it last.

I have not witnessed the death of a turtle yet but this and many more myths add up to the charms of the temple.And it is a beautiful temple just like other temples in India.

It is a destination for a traveler who wants to see the essence of India and how age old traditions have preserved themselves through generations. The hallowed of the temple or the mysterious lake whose inhabitants surface the water to the fed by the worshipper's, Udaipur Matabari is bound to leave a lasting impression on the mind of a wayfarer. Just like other beautiful temples - like the Kahjuraho Temple, the Sun Temple, Thanjavur Temple, Meenakshi Temple and the Golden Temple.

The smell and the sight, and the feel of coolness of the leafy bought or the stone paved floors - it is an experience that one would want to line through again and again be it an at nest or a pagan.