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Tuesday 16 April 2013

THE NARTIANG MEGALITHS, MEGHALAYA.


Shillong a pretty city of Meghalaya state in Northeast India is assumed to be the Scotland of the east. 

The Nartiang Megalithic site. Photo credit : http://www.rikynjai.com/nartiang.html


65 kms from it is the summer capital of the Jaintia kings, Nartiang. The town is well known for its weekly bazaar and the annual February Festival and bordering this colourful market place is a stunning megalithic site comprising of fascinating megaliths. Structurally these are menhirs, cromlechs and dolmenoid cists.

The tallest stone is about 27 feet high and 7 feet wide which is believed to have been erected by one U Mar Phalyngki, a lieutenant of a Jaintia king to mark his victory in a battle. Other monoliths were erected by U Luh Lyngskor Lamare and various other clans of the Nartiang village 1500 and 1835 AD.

The dolmens are called Moukanthai and the menhirs Moushinrang.

Few of the monuments are here from the prehistoric times. Many dolmens resemble the Mundaric sasandiris of Jharkhand. The Natiang megalithic site is regarded as a monument of National importance.


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