The thief looted and vandalized the famous Ugratara temple of the Guwahati city and took away the main idol besides valuables and offerings.
This morning when the temple priest opened the temple found the idol missing and all items vandalized. The temple is just barely 200 meters from the Lataseel Police Station.
The devotees immediately thronged the area and a shocked police ppressed in dog squad and in the CCTV found 4 thieves merrily decamped with all the looted goods.
The idol is made of "ostadhatu" and considered one of the 52 holiest place for the Hindu religion in India.
The Ugratara Devalaya is situated In the heart of the Guwahati city, in the Uzan Bazar area. It attracts large number of pilgrims every year. The 'Navaratri' is the most celebrated holy festival in this temple every year. Traditionally The temple practices animal sacrifices to please the goddess. Ugratara is believed to the the aroused, or demonic form of Sati. In this form she loves liquor, meat and utter devotion. That is why goats, cocks, ducks and even buffalos sacrificed in the temple. During Durga Puja and Kali Puja the temple campus sees maximum sacrifices.
Around 1730 AD, Ahom King Siva Singha excavated two large tanks on the east of the current temple. Three years later he built a smal but beautiful temple on the banks of these tanks. These tanks are now called Joepukhri (Jurpukhuri), Jur means 'couple' and 'pukhuri' means tank in Assamese.
Unlike other Hindu temples, Ugratara doesn't have any idol or image of the deity. Inside the temple core there is a small pit filled with water whihc is considered as Goddess. The 1897 devastating earth quake damaged this temple too. But later it was repaired and idol was also added later.
