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The film shoot. |
I was standing about 2/3 mtrs NE of the menhir B while the camera was positioned about 7/8 mtrs to my opposite. The director wanted me to walk towards the camera while giving the discourse on the megalith.
In the process while walking about 2 mtrs opposite the menhir B, I was suddenly taken aback as I felt that I was speaking in an open auditorium.
I stopped immediately and called the crew explaining them the phenomenon. They soon rushed in to find the occurrence of the same phenomenon while speaking from a particular spot.
I let the discovery be for that day and continued with the shoot. I returned the next morning to research on the acoustics in the megaliths. I had read of sound effects in many European megaliths and was skeptical about them but to happen with me in the Punkri Burwadih megaliths itself was indeed something unanticipated.
But how can an echo ensue in the open, this was maddening ?
The next morning I set out for Punkri Burweadih accompanied by a small team including Prantik my son, Alok Rana my co-worker, Abhisek Mishra, a Senior Geologist from Srinagar, Kashmir in North India and a host of Geology students of the Vinoba Bhabe University.
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Prantik, Abhishek and I stand at the marker stone and speak towards the menhir B to experience echo effect. |
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The natural depression on the menhir can be seen. That the megalith is inclined to the front in the photograph can also be perceived. |
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Working on the menhir which creates the echo. |
I learnt the stone in the spot must have been dug in by the ancients which surely served as a marker indicating the exact spot from which the echo could be obtained.
We all huddled around that stone and began conducting tests of the echo. We discovered that for the best results we were required to speak louder facing the the menhir B. We were amazed at the effect...as if we were conversing in an open room.
How could the ancients acquire the feat in this wide open, we wondered.
We then began working on the menhir to find the stone was slightly tilted towards the marker stone. We also spotted a natural depression at the middle of the eastern surface of the stone with a tentative height of about 28" and a width of about 14" to 15" and it was this particular cavity which was causing the reverberation, ofcourse the incline was also aiding to the effect.
We were required to confirm this hypothesis, so Prantik, Abhishek and an another youngster stood in front of the menhir obstructing the depression while I yelled. There was no echo and once I talked louder removing the three fellows; bingo...the echo had resumed.
So indeed it were both the depression and the incline that was creating the echo. Such basic science and such a marvellous effect.
That would mean they deliberately searched for a stone with such a depression on it so that the echo could be produced with its help. The exact angle of the tilt therefore was mandatory for the ancient megalithic astronomers to procure the reverberation from the exact spot of 72"; a standard megalithic measurement which must have been sacred from them.
Many megaliths in the region has been found to be of 72".
72" according to ancient Indian measurements is I (one) danda or is 8 vitastas or vittas (one vitatsta is equal to 9" or the span between the smallest finger and the thumb).
But why echo?
The echo must have been serving a socio/religious/magical purpose in the megaliths which much have been under the custody of the astronomer priests.
I thereafter invited a few Physics professors of the Post Graduate Dept of the Vinoba Bhabey University to work on the echo effect in Punkri Burwadih.
I of course had a hard time explaining to them what a megalith was. It is unfortunate despite living in a tribal state people at large are ignorant of tribal megaliths.
So one fine winter morning the University team comprised of Physics professors and PG students headed by Dr.Navin Chandra of the Physics Dept accompanied me to the Punkri Burwadih megaliths to study its newly discovered echo effects.
The scholars expressed their utmost shock to find the echo and without wasting much time they fell to work. They had bought curtains and tried blocking the wind from the sides of the menhir B to find why and how the reverberation worked.
Hours of research too had them conclude that it was the depression and the tilt of the menhir that was creating the echo.
We all huddled around that stone and began conducting tests of the echo. We discovered that for the best results we were required to speak louder facing the the menhir B. We were amazed at the effect...as if we were conversing in an open room.
How could the ancients acquire the feat in this wide open, we wondered.
We then began working on the menhir to find the stone was slightly tilted towards the marker stone. We also spotted a natural depression at the middle of the eastern surface of the stone with a tentative height of about 28" and a width of about 14" to 15" and it was this particular cavity which was causing the reverberation, ofcourse the incline was also aiding to the effect.
We were required to confirm this hypothesis, so Prantik, Abhishek and an another youngster stood in front of the menhir obstructing the depression while I yelled. There was no echo and once I talked louder removing the three fellows; bingo...the echo had resumed.
So indeed it were both the depression and the incline that was creating the echo. Such basic science and such a marvellous effect.
That would mean they deliberately searched for a stone with such a depression on it so that the echo could be produced with its help. The exact angle of the tilt therefore was mandatory for the ancient megalithic astronomers to procure the reverberation from the exact spot of 72"; a standard megalithic measurement which must have been sacred from them.
Many megaliths in the region has been found to be of 72".
72" according to ancient Indian measurements is I (one) danda or is 8 vitastas or vittas (one vitatsta is equal to 9" or the span between the smallest finger and the thumb).
But why echo?
The echo must have been serving a socio/religious/magical purpose in the megaliths which much have been under the custody of the astronomer priests.
I thereafter invited a few Physics professors of the Post Graduate Dept of the Vinoba Bhabey University to work on the echo effect in Punkri Burwadih.
I of course had a hard time explaining to them what a megalith was. It is unfortunate despite living in a tribal state people at large are ignorant of tribal megaliths.
So one fine winter morning the University team comprised of Physics professors and PG students headed by Dr.Navin Chandra of the Physics Dept accompanied me to the Punkri Burwadih megaliths to study its newly discovered echo effects.
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Professors and PG students of Physics of Vinoba Bhabhe University tries to unravel the mystery of the echo by covering the menhir. |
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A curtain is placed at the left side of the menhir to block the draft whether that changes the quality of the echo. |
The scholars expressed their utmost shock to find the echo and without wasting much time they fell to work. They had bought curtains and tried blocking the wind from the sides of the menhir B to find why and how the reverberation worked.
Hours of research too had them conclude that it was the depression and the tilt of the menhir that was creating the echo.
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