THE 15TH FEB/26TH OCT SUNRISE IN PUNKRI BURWADIH MEGALITHS

Subhahsis Das 

THE SUN RISES ON THESE DAYS STRAIGHT FROM THE LEFT EDGE OF THE  SMALL STONE MARKED 'A'.

Punkri Burwadih is a wonder…not only because it is a wonderful megalith but because it is a megalith which reveals the ancients’ precise understanding of horizon astronomy and also of the transits of the sun.

Each stone here is positioned in alignment to prime peaks or notches of the surrounding hills, mathematical ratios and even to major sunrises and sets.

A small stone ‘A’ which has been made to function as a pointer, is arranged in a North-South position to the west of a larger menhir. This stone is placed is such a manner that it is linear to the crevice between the two larger menhirs which faces the mid-winter sunrise. 

This is a deliberate placement as the left edge of “A” is aligned to the sunrises of 15^th Feb/26th Oct (also known to scholars as Calendrcial Intervals 10.5 and 15.5 respectively according to the so called Megalithic Calendar)

The length of the stone ‘A’ too has been so accurately made that standing at the right rim of the stone ‘A’ one can see the sunrises on 26^th Feb/15/16^th Oct (known in the so called megalithic calendar as CI 10 and 16) through the gap between the two menhirs.

People have gathered around the the stone 'A'...awaiting the sun to rise.

Punkri Burwadih, it seems that apart from being a burial was also created by primitive astronomer-priests to function as an observatory for the study of the course of the sun.

But why does Punkri Burwadih have viewing points made to watch the sunrises of 15^th Feb/26 Oct and 26th Feb and 15th Oct? We have no idea. Certainly the dates must have been of great pertinence for the ancients. Therefore, Punkri Burwadih must have also been serving as a calendar for the ancients.

Visitors wait for the sunrise of 15th feb from between the two menhirs in the distance...

©Subhahsis Das