Tripura Sundari Temple

Locally called Matabari, this hilltop shrine near Udaipur in Gomati district is one of the 51 Shaktipeeths, the places where parts of the goddess Sati's body fell as Shiva danced the tandava. Here it was her right foot. Maharaja Dhanya Manikya Dev founded the temple in 1501. Because the hillock is shaped like a tortoise, considered the ideal ground for a Shakti shrine, the site is also known as Kurma Pitha.

The king is said to have been told in a dream to begin worship of Tripura Sundari on this hill, only to find a Vishnu temple already standing there, so the shrine came to unite Vaishnava and Shakta devotion. The square sanctum follows the Bengali hut form under a conical dome. It holds two images of the goddess: Tripura Sundari, about 5 feet tall, and the 2-foot Chhoto-Ma, a form of Chandi that Tripura's kings reportedly took with them into battle and on hunts. East of the temple lies the Kalyan Sagar tank, home to fish and tortoises.