The Carvings of Unakoti
In the forested hills of Tripura, giant faces are carved into the rock. Legend says there are one short of ten million of them.
What was reported
Unakoti, in the hills of northern Tripura, is a site of huge rock carvings and stone images set among forest and streams. The largest is a carved head about 10 metres high. Its name means 'one less than a crore', or ten million.
Legend says that Shiva was travelling with a host of gods and stopped there for the night, telling them to rise before dawn. When none of them woke, he cursed them to stone, leaving one short of a crore of images in the hills.
Explanations offered
Archaeologists date the carvings to between roughly the 7th and 9th centuries, though nobody has counted anything like ten million. The site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India and is a place of pilgrimage, especially during a spring festival.
- When
- Carved between the 7th and 9th centuries
- Where
- Unakoti, Tripura, India
- Witnesses
- Pilgrims and archaeologists
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.