Ancient stone idol recovered near Gomati river in Tripura’s Udaipur town

Two idols, of Lord Vishnu and goddess Santoshi, were recovered from the town in Gomati district last year.

Details of the recovered idol are yet to be known.

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An ancient stone idol was recovered near the Gomati river at Dashamighat in Udaipur in Tripura’s Gomati district on Tuesday, police said.

“We have taken the idol to the police station. The administration would decide what to do with the idol,” said a police officer. Details of the recovered idol are yet to be known.

Two idols of Hindu deities, Lord Vishnu and goddess Santoshi, were recovered from Udaipur last year. And in October 2018, a 2.5-ft idol of a Hindu goddess was recovered from southeast bank of Jagannath Dighi in Udaipur, just three months after a 300-year-old sandstone statue was excavated at Rabindra Sangha, a local club in the same district. The idol was later kept at a temple despite public demands for shifting it to a government museum.

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Tripura is known for historical sites like the Buddhist ruins of Pilak in South Tripura and the eighth-century Unakoti rock sculptures in Unakoti district.

In 2014 the Archaeological Survey of India brushed the dust off 600-year-old historical ruins at the erstwhile royal palace in Udaipur, which was built during the rule of Maharaja Maha Manikya, between 1400 and 1432.

Udaipur used to be called Rangamati at the time and was renamed only in 1571. Udaipur town, which is the headquarters of Gomati district, used to serve as the princely state’s capital till 1760 before the capital was moved to Puran Haveli, 20 km east of Agartala, which became the capital in 1838.

Royal palaces in towns like Udaipur and Dharmanagar in North Tripura have faded into oblivion. A large portion of the two-storey Udaipur palace lies buried under soil and only the first floor is visible to tourists.

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The Udaipur royal palace and the Bhuvaneswari Temple found mention in Rabindranath Tagore’s novel Rajarshi (hermit king), which was based on the life and rule of Maharaja Gobinda Manikya, who ruled Tripura from 1667 to 1676.

The Bhuvaneswari Temple was later taken up by the ASI for preservation.