PUNKRI BURWADIH megaliths gear up to host the AUTUMN EQUINOX on 23rd SEPT 2011

THE FASCINATING EQUINOX SUNRISE IN PUNKREE BURWADIH.

The sun travelling from the Tropic of Cancer on the Summer Solstice towards the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere on the Winter Solstice passes through the Autumn Equinoctial point on the 22nd/23rd Sept. 

Many megaliths across the globe like the one of Punkree Burwadih were therefore built aligned to the Equinox and/or to the solstice sunrises.They were purposely built to view these sunrises in order to get the the dates of these major days to accomplish their rituals. All over the world in primitive times megaliths were built by the ancients which served both sepulchral and calendrical purposes for them.

Punkree Burwadih is one such momentous creation of the primitive megalithic astronomers who built the monument not only as a tomb but also to function as a calendar. The stones have been fixed in accurate alignments to cardinal points, with each other to major peaks and notches of the encircling hills. 

A SECTION OF THE CROWD WAITS PATIENTLY FOR THE SUN TO RISE

Two tall menhirs marked 'M1' and 'M2' have been placed side by side facing the Winter Solstice sunrise. The positioning of these stones are such that a 'V' notch gets formed . The 'V' is a major Paleolithic icon while added to a few others becomes a zigzag, another major Paleolithic motif found even on the potsherds of Harappa and megalithic potteries. The 'V' is also the upturned triangle symbolical of the female genitals also representative of the  Mother Goddess worshipped by the erstwhile matriarchal megalithic tribals.

One small stone marked 'A' has been laid on the North South axis of this monument. Walking  South on this axis of 'A'  on one particular point if one faces the "V" of the menhirs on the Equinox mornings, the sun can be seen rising through this notch from behind the curvilinear hill in the landscape. Tens and hundreds of people gather on Equinox mornings to view this grand spectacle of sunrise through the megaliths which is not only a mesmerizing sight but also substantiates the primitives'  profound wisdom of horizon astronomy. 

One marvels at the the primitive megalithic astronomers' insight of observational astronomy that how accurately the stones were positioned on this particular point that on the Equinoxes and even on the Summer solstice sunrises could be viewed through the 'V' !

The primitives must have acquired the knowledge of the transits of the sun by observation. Punkree Burwadih is one example how this knowledge was brought into practice.

THE MARKING OF THE  EQUINOX VIEWING POINT WITH LIME BEFORE THE VERNAL EQUINOX 2011

The Autumn Equinox this year is on 23rd September. To view the sunrise you need to arrive a day prior to Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. Punkree Burwadih is about a 22 kms from the town therefore you need to leave early for the site lest you do not want to miss out on the sunrise. 

The astronomy of the site was the author's discovery about 12 years ago, since then he had begun the custom of viewing the Equinox sunrise which now has become a biannual event; perhaps the only place in the country to view Equinox sunrise through megaliths.