THE TALL MENHIR OF DUNDWA

This giant of a menhir could be a boundary marker or a marker of an isolated burial of a person who may have died for unnatural reasons like snake bite, dead during sowing or  harvest etc.

The standing stone reveals acraftmanship and skill that once prevailed among the ancient megalith makers.

MY ARTICLE ON CHOKAHATU MEGALITHIC BURIAL IN PRABHAT KHABAR

 

Megaliths of Jharkhand: Destruction of the Megalithic Complex of Chano

 Subhashis Das

Cited from my following books :

1. UNKNOWN CIVILIZATION OF PREHISTORIC INDIA: Kaveri Books. New Delhi.

2. THE ARCHAEOASTRONOMY OF A FEW MEGALITHIC SITES OF JHARKAHND. Niyogi Books. New Delhi.

3. LOST HERITAGE OF JHARKHAND INCLUDING MEGALITHS (Colours of Jharkhand). Outlook. Traveller Getaways. New Delhi.

The now demolished tiny yet the most significant megalithic complex of Chano

In this blog page I mention one major megalithic complex of Chano in the state of Jharkhand in East India which I had discovered over 2 decades ago. These stunning megaliths apart from being burials of the dead were created by using using basic geometry and astronomy.

Chano was a very small and insignificant looking megalithic complex. A few slim recumbent stones suggested that they were used as burial covers which differed from the sasandiri type burials of the proto austroloid Mundas, Asurs and other tribes.

The walls of a large dug out from which the villagers collected mud for their use revealed fragments of pottery and microliths. I had collected a few broken Black on Red Ware pottery and even a section of a bone flute apart from iron arrowheads, few iron implements and large amount of iron slags. 
Chano also comprised of a phallus stone. 

The site interestingly had three triangular stones of which two smaller ones were accurately positioned towards the sunrises and sets of the Summer and the Winter Solstices. 

This image shows the accurate positioning of the stones within the complex

We gather to witness the Winter Solstice Sunrise at the now demolished Chano megaliths where the small stone triangle A points towards it.

I am not citing more about the mathematics and alignments of the site in here as for that you need to read my above mentioned books, particularly THE ARCHAEOASTRONOMY OF A FEW MEGALITHIC SITES OF JHARKHAND which can be procured from major book stalls or online from Flipkart or Amazon etc.

 Today this major site exists no more as the land mafia has felled and towed with them the prehistoric stones demolishing this major heritage of our country, forever. 
   

THE AMAZING BARABAR AND NAGARJUNA ROCK CUT CAVES

 We travelled to the Barabar caves through Gaya. The 10 km stretch from Bela to the rock-cut caves of Barabar Hill is perhaps the worst road I have travelled on  so far. The villagers say that the road has not been repaired for decades.

Our local contact Avinash met us midway to the Hills who accompanied us as our guide . He told us that the twin hills of Nagarjuna and Barabar comprise of seven rock-cut caves, the oldest of it kind in India. 

These caves were built for the now defunct Ajivika monks during the reins of Ashoka and Dashrath (Ashoka’s descendant) between 3^rd and 2nd cent BCE. 

We decided to drive to the Barabar Hill first about 1.5 kms from the Nagarjuna Hill. Avinash, our guided highlighted us that the Barabar Hill comprised of four rock-cut caves. 

The Barabar Rock-Cut caves

                   (Co ordinates: Long: 85 deg 3' 46.8" E Lat : 25 deg 0' 18" N)

MEGALITHIC AND OTHER POEMS

THE HERITAGE TRUST of  England features my poem THE MESSENGER  in their blog.

Click on the link below to read:

https://megalithicpoems.blogspot.com/2012/04/messenger.html

RUPKATHA  JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES IN HUMANITIES features three of my poems in their journal.

Click on the link below to read :

https://rupkatha.com/poems-subhashis-das/

Katia Murwey

Subhashis Das stands beside one of the tall standing stones in the megalithic complex of Katia Murwey.

 To know more about this amazing megalithic complex, you can read about it in one of my books THE ARCHAEOASTRONOMY OF A FEW MEGALITHIC SITES OF JHARKHAND, published by Niyogi Books  New Delhi.

Click at the link below to catch a glimpse of the book: 
https://www.niyogibooksindia.com/books/the-archaeoastronomy-of-a-few-megalithic-sites-of-jharkhand

Click at the Amazon link below to purchase the book: 
https://www.amazon.in/Archaeoastronomy-Few-Megalithic-Sites-Jharkhand/dp/9386906163

LARGEST CUPMARK SITE OF JHARKHAND IN EAST INDIA

 

 The largest cupule site of Jharkhand is at Silwar in Hazaribagh. Cupules on horizontal stones.

 Cupules on vertical stones in Jharkhand

Click on the below link to read my paper to know more of the above mentioned cupmarks in Hazaribagh and cupules on megaliths in Jharkhand; all discovered by me:

https://www.chitrolekha.com/V6/n3/02_cupules.pdf

or 

Click on the link below to read another of my paper on cupules on megaliths in  Hazaribagh; all discovered by me and appeared in Purakala:

https://www.academia.edu/19121276/DISCOVERY_OF_CUPULE_BEARING_MEGALITHIC_SITES_IN_HAZARIBAGH_REGION_JHARKHAND

My new book on MEGALITHS OF JHARKHAND with OUTLOOK TRAVELLER GETAWAYS

 Subhashis Das

  My new book on the Megaliths of Jharkhand called LOST HERITAGE OF JHARKHAND INCLUDING MEGALITHS is published with three other booklets of OUTLOOK TRAVELLER GETAWAYS under the jacket of COLOURS OF JHARKHAND.

  In this new book/booklet I have cited not only the various megaliths (most of which are my discoveries) of the state but other heritages as well, as that of the archaeological site of Benisagar in West Singhbhum, the fascinating colourful mud huts of the Ho tribes, rock cut temples, various water bodies around Ranchi, the different haunts of the migratory birds and scores of alluring places. 

The book is interspersed with fascinating photographs of a variety of megalithic architectures of the state from Chatra, to Chaibasa including Hazaribagh, Lohardagga etc clicked by me and by others apart from the other lesser known heritages of the state. 

Written lucidly as an itinerant traveller, the book is indeed worth a read hence is worth a buy. 

Apart from the LOST HERITAGE OF JHARKHAND INCLUDING MEGALITHS the COLOURS OF JHARKHAND is an assortment of three other interesting booklets called WATERFALLS OF JHARKHAND, FAMOUS TEMPLES OF JHARKHAND, CULTURE, CRAFTS AND CUISINE OF JHARKHAND.

The booklets would soon be available in all book stores and stalls of the country and also on line.

My research on the Megaliths of Jharkhand gets included in the syllabus of Jharkhand Education Board

Megaliths of Jharkhand: Megalithic site of JABRA aka Pacahi Baba/ Megaliths of India.

Megaliths of Jharkhand: Megalithic site of BIRBIR/ Megaliths of India.