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.
