Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the rock-cut sculptures of the Unakoti in Tripura made it to the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

Chief Minister through social media posts also appreciated the efforts of the Union Minister of Tourism G. Kishan Reddy for his initiatives, which helped to place the centuries old rock-cut sculptures of Unakoti in coveted list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites

Dr Saha in twee said that “Happy to share that Rock-cut Sculptures and Reliefs of the Unakoti in Tripura made it to the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Unakoti, known as an ancient holy place associated with Shiva worship, is famous for its colossal rock cut panels depicting Hindu deities. On behalf of the people of Tripura, I wholeheartedly thank Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji and Hon’ble Union Minister for Tourism Shri G. Kishan Reddy ji for approaching UNESCO to declare Unakoti as a World Heritage Site.”

The UNESCO website describes a tentative list as an "inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination".

Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy also expressed happiness that Unakoti, which means one less than a crore (koti in Bengali) is now in that list.

The minister said that Unakoti's nomination for UNESCO's tentative list is a big thing for the people of Tripura and it will be the biggest achievement for the country's monument conservation if Unakoti gets the World Heritage tag.

Unakoti Hill is a sculptural emblem and ancient Shaivite place that hosts approx ninety-nine lakh ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine rock carvings figures and images of gods and goddesses. It is a place of worship with huge rock reliefs celebrating Shiva. Unakoti literally means "one less one crore" or "koti" in Hindi and Bengali. In Kokborok language, it is called Subrai Khung. It is the prime tourist spot of Unakoti District, in the Kailashahar subdivision of Unakoti district.

The images found at Unakoti are of two types: namely rock-carved figures and stone images. Among the rock-cut carvings, the central Shiva head and gigantic Ganesha figures deserve special mention. The central Shiva head known as Unakotiswara Kal Bhairava is about 30 feet high including an embroidered head-dress which itself is 10 feet high. On each side of the head-dress of the central Shiva, there are two full-size female figures - one of Durga standing on a lion and another female figure on the other side. In addition, three enormous images of Nandi Bull are found half-buried in the ground. There are various other stones as well as rock-cut images at Unakoti.