PM Modi to open redeveloped 524-year-old Tripura Sundari temple today

PM Modi will inaugurate the redeveloped 524-year-old Tripura Sundari temple in Udaipur today. Revamped under the PRASHAD scheme, the Shakti Peetha holds historic and cultural significance for Tripura and eastern India.

Agartala: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the redeveloped Mata Tripura Sundari temple, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas revered by Hindus, in southern Tripura’s Udaipur on Monday, officials said.

After virtually laying the foundation stone of 13 development projects worth over Rs 5,127 crore in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister will arrive in Agartala on Monday afternoon.

---

From Agartala, he will travel by helicopter to Udaipur in Gomati district, 65 km away, to inaugurate the redeveloped temple complex.

A police official said a 12-km roadshow from Palatana helipad to the temple is planned, with elaborate security arrangements.

After inaugurating the redeveloped temple and beautified surroundings, PM Modi will offer puja at the Kali temple before returning to Agartala and then departing for Delhi. “There will be no public address by the Prime Minister as per the schedule available as of now,” the official said.

Monday’s visit marks Modi’s 11th trip to Tripura and his second visit to the Tripura Sundari temple since becoming Prime Minister in 2014. He last visited the temple on April 7, 2019, and his most recent visit to the state was on April 17, 2024, during the Lok Sabha elections.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, who inspected preparations at the temple twice in the past two weeks, said he had invited the Prime Minister to inaugurate the redeveloped temple. On X, he posted: “The enchanting nighttime supernatural view of the new infrastructure of Mother’s Abode, built under the PRASAD Project! The mesmerizing complex, blessed by Mother’s grace, reflects the deep reverence and gratitude of the current government. The entire population of Tripura is eagerly awaiting the grand inauguration by the world-renowned people’s leader, the illustrious Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji on the upcoming 22nd of September.”

A Tourism Department official said that under the PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme of the Union Tourism Ministry, the 524-year-old temple has been redeveloped at a cost of over Rs 52 crore, with the Tripura government contributing Rs 7 crore.

Built in 1501 by Maharaja Dhanya Manikya, the Tripura Sundari temple is regarded as one of the holiest Shakti Peethas, and is the third such shrine in eastern India after Kalighat in Kolkata and Kamakhya in Guwahati.

Following over 517 years of rule by successive kings, Tripura merged with the Indian Union on October 15, 1949, through a merger agreement signed between Regent Maharani Kanchan Prabha Devi and the Governor General of India.