Tripura Sundari Temple (Matabari)

The Tripura Sundari Temple at Udaipur, popularly called Matabari, was built in 1501 CE by Maharaja Dhanya Manikya of the Manikya dynasty, whose kingdom gave the modern state of Tripura its name. The shrine is a compact example of Bengali Ek-ratna architecture: a cubical sanctum roughly 24 square feet at its base rising to a three-tiered roof with a finial, about 75 feet tall. Inside, a 5-foot black stone image of the goddess as Tripura Sundari stands beside a smaller 2-foot image identified as Chandi.

The temple is counted among the 51 Shakta Pithas of the subcontinent, sites where, according to the Sati-Daksha legend, pieces of the goddess Sati’s body fell as Shiva carried her corpse in grief; here it is said to be a portion of her right foot, and the hillock on which the temple stands is likened to a tortoise’s back, giving it the alternate name Kurma Pitha. A separate strand of local tradition credits a dream-vision received by Dhanya Manikya as the immediate prompt for building the shrine, distinct from its Shakti Peetha identification. The temple’s sacred tank, Kalyan Sagar, spans about 6.4 acres and is known for large numbers of soft-shelled (bostami) turtles that pilgrims feed; the site draws well over 100,000 visitors during its Diwali mela, one of the largest religious gatherings in Tripura.