By Shobha Rao Smilemaker

May 07: I had always assumed that the Lake palace in India was at Udaipur in Rajasthan, but I did not know that there was a bigger Lake palace called Neer Mahal in another state of Tripura in Eastern side of India.

This Udaipur was the capital of the Manikya dynasty kings who had ruled Tripura for many centuries and created many artificial lakes in the region. We took a boat ride on the lake to see the white coloured palace which was the summer residence for the Manikya Royal family.

On one side of the Neer Mahal was the open air galleries for public cultural events and on the other side was the private residence of the kings, including visitors rooms, dancing halls, bedrooms or spare rooms too.

The combination of balconies, towers, bridges and ornate windows ensured a lot of cross ventilation keeping the interiors cool inspite of the scorching sun outside.

The kitchen was away from the main rooms and the gardens were well maintained. We are so blessed to see these heritage monuments in different corners of India. The coffee shop had refreshing drinks and a great display of local handicrafts too.

Another must see temple we visited was the Tripura Sundari Devi temple also called the Matabari temple from where the State derived its name. The scorching sun and the extra crowds tested our devotion. I did manage to wash my feet in the Kalyan Sagar lake, which is said to have a rare breed of tortoise. The hill on which the temple is situated is also said to be in the shape of a tortoise.

As I walked past the colourful shops and climbed up the steps, I was thrilled to visit another powerful Shakthi peet of Devi. The main shrine was constructed 500 years ago with a red coloured unique three tier Bengali architecture styled roof.This is the place where the little finger of the left leg of Sati is said to have fallen.

I managed get a good darshan of the main black stone Devi idol amidst the jostling crowds. I did not realize that there was another smaller stone devi idol too. I also visited the accompanying Bhairava temple known as Tripuresh.

Next we went to the Bhubaneshwari temple at Gomti, which also had the unique 'charchala' style of Bengali architecture. There was a raised platform, a core chamber with vestibule, a curved roof like a stupa and tapering buttresses. Surprisingly there was no devi idol inside, instead we prayed to the devi idol at a nearby simple shrine.

This temple was mentioned by Rabindranath Tagore in some of his literary works, and hie statue was prominent outside the temple- probably the first statue of this literary giant that I had come across in my travels.

We visited the ruins of the Rajbari next to it. I could imagine the spirit of the royal family still present in the ruins of this place. There was a pre wedding shoot going on in between the reconstructed rooms of the rajbari, though the ceiling had collapsed centuries ago.

We drove back to Agartala in silence and gratitude for having such unique experiences. Wow India!

Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.