Unakoti

It is ‘Shaiba’ (Saivite) pilgrimage and dates back to 7th – 9th centuries if not earlier. It is famous for its marvellous rock carvings, murals with their primitive beauty, waterfalls. Unakoti means one less than a crore and it is said that these many rock cut carvings are available here.

As per the Hindu mythology, Lord Shiva along with 1 crore Gods & Goddesses halted here to rest for a night on their way to Kashi. He asked all the gods and goddesses to wake up before sun rise to proceed for Kashi. It is said that the next morning, except Shiva himself, no one else could get up so Lord Shiva set out for Kashi himself cursing the others to become stone images. As a result it is believed that one less than a crore stone images and carvings placed at Unakoti. These are located at a beautifully landscaped forest area with green vegetation all around which add to the beauty of the carvings. The images found at Unakoti are of two types, namely rock-carved figures and stone images.

Among the rock cut carvings, the central Shiva head and gigantic Ganesha figures deserve special mention. The central Shiva head known as ‘Unakotiswara Kal Bhairava’ is about 30 feet high including an embroidered head-dress which itself is 10 feet high. On each side of the head-dress of the central Shiva, there are two full size female figures – one of Durga standing on a lion and another female figure on the other side. In addition three enormous images of Nandi Bull are found half buried in the ground. There are various other stone as well as rock cut images at Unakoti. Every year a big fair popularly known as ‘Ashokastami Mela’ is held in the month of April which is visited by thousands of pilgrims.