Pilak

Pilak is an archaeological site at Jolaibari in the Santirbazar subdivision of South Tripura, spread across about 10 sq km and around 100 km from Agartala. Finds have come from its mounds since 1927, among them Shyam Sundar Tilla, Thakurani Tilla, Deb Bari, Basudeb Bari and Balir Pathar. Once part of the Samatata kingdom of historical Bengal, it belongs to the same group of sites as Mainamati and Somapura Mahavihara in Bangladesh, and its art blends Pala and Gupta features with Arakanese and local traits.

The antiquities, mostly from the 8th to 12th centuries, show Hindu and Buddhist worship side by side: terracotta plaques and seals, brick stupas uncovered by the ASI in the early 1960s, an 8th-century standing Buddha on a cone-shaped slab, and very large figures of Avalokiteshvara and Narasimha. Some pieces are now worshipped in nearby temples, and sandstone sculptures from Pilak are shown at the Tripura Government Museum. The ASI has looked after the site since 1999.