Tripura Sundari Temple

Tripura Sundari Temple
ত্রিপুরেশ্বরী মন্দির
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Gomati
Deity	Tripura Sundari
Festivals	Lalita Jayanti on Magha Purnima, Lalita Panchami, Navaratri
Location
Location	Matabari, Udaipur
State	Tripura
Country	India
Architecture
Style	Bengali (Ek-ratna style)
Founder	Maharaja Dhanya Manikya
Date established	1501 CE

Tripura Sundari Temple is a Hindu temple of the Goddess Tripura Sundari, better known locally as Devi Tripureshwari. The temple is situated in the ancient city of Udaipur, about 55 km from Agartala, Tripura and can be reached by train and road from Agartala. It is believed to be one of the holiest Hindu shrines in this part of the country and witnesses the highest number of visitors for a temple in North-East India, after Kamakhya Temple in Assam. The state of Tripura is named after this temple. Popularly known as Matabari, the shrine is set upon a small hillock that resembles the hump of a tortoise (Kurma). This shape called Kurmapṛṣṭhākṛti is considered the holiest possible site for a Shakti temple, hence also bestowing the name of Kurma Pīṭha.^[1] The Goddess is served by traditional Brahmin priests.

The temple is considered to be one of the 51 Shakti Peethas; legend says that a part of the right foot (Dakshin Charan) of Sati including the big toe fell here. Here, Shakti is worshipped as Tripurasundarī and the accompanying Bhairava is Tripuresh. The main shrine, a cubical edifice with a three-tier roof with a finial, erected by Maharaja of Tripura Dhanya Manikya in 1501 CE, is constructed in the Bengali Ek-ratna style.

There are two similar but different sized black stone idols of the Goddess in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The larger and more prominent idol of 5 feet height is of Goddess Tripura Sundari and the smaller one, adorably called Chhoto-Ma (literally, Little Mother), is 2 feet tall and is an idol of Goddess Chandi. The smaller idol was said to have been carried by the kings of Tripura to the battlefield as well as to hunting expeditions.^[2] Every year on the occasion of Diwali, a famous Mela takes place near the temple which is visited by more than 0.2 million pilgrims.^[3]