A date with Pre Historic time

One afternoon while traveling, we reached a spot which looked quite mysterious. We stopped by to peep in and have a look around. The first thing that caught our attention was a single stone standing about three feet tall. Here on, walking a little further, we found a stone circle, made of irregular stones. On spotting these two, our excitement doubled, as we waited further to see what more was in store! By now, we were almost sure that this indeed is the place where we could look for Menhirs. We were sure about this as we had read before, their presence in that particular place and its surroundings. Inspecting the surroundings, we found a Dolmenoid Cist, after which it became a confirmed site for spotting the Menhirs. Knowing that we were close to spotting them, we began wandering with curiosity this vast expanse of scattered stones, small hillocks and boulders.

Inviting Menhir

Dolmeniod cist

Dolmen

Displaced Cap Stone 

   We sighted a few Stone Circles, Cairn Circles and a Dolmeniod Cist. A local shepherd revealed to us that there were more than  a hundred such structures (Pandavara Gudi or Dolmenoid Cist), most of which were removed from place and the stones being used for various purposes. One of the striking features of the  Dolmenoid Cist is the huge undressed cap stone slab placed horizontally on four comparatively thin vertically standing stone slabs,  with one or more port holes. The cap stones we observed were really huge and its thickness varied from about one to two feet, and the vertical standing stones were only about three to four inches thick. We always wonder how  people, 3000 plus years ago, played with stones so easily without any help from the so called technology. We found numerous Dolmens without the cap stone, which then resembled the crude swastika (a Hindu religious symbol and Nazi emblem), while some places were scattered with only cap stones. 

Stone circle with Dolmen in the center 

Stone Circle

Cairn Circle

   Further upon interaction, he revealed finding pottery pieces under these cists and not finding any treasure. Later, he called upon two teenagers for guiding and showing us some intact Cists and Menhirs. They were more than happy to show us around. On our way, we met an elderly person, probably in his 80's, who told us that when he was boy, two Britishers  had visited this site for surveying, which went on for almost two years. Since then, only a few Government officials visited here occasionally. He showed us the biggest Cist of this area, and asked us to return tomorrow so he could clear all the over grown vegetation and we could see it clearly.  A little further, we found a slab stone with port hole.

Inside a Dolmen

Dolmen and Shepherd 

Look at the Port Hole 

  Finally we reached our destination, the Menhirs that stood tall amidst the dry vegetation. There were four Menhirs all around. Menhirs are monolithic undressed stones planted vertically into the ground, which can vary in height and structure size from small  to gigantic. Some researchers believe these to be associated with burials while a few relate them to the Solstice. Though we can get close to the reason behind placing or constructing these structures, the truth remains hidden. At a few sites in India, Menhirs with engravings, also called as Petroglyphs have been found. While we  wondered about these intriguing structures, time passed by and we had to call off our visit since it was getting dark, leaving the rest  to our imagination. We felt that there may be many hidden secrets behind these mysterious structures, that are yet to be explored and discovered.

Menhirs

This place is located about 60 km from Bangalore.

Other Prehistoric Sites visited :
1 Chandravalli Gardens, Chitradurga  
2 Stone circles of Varlakonda
3 Cave Paintings of Anegundi 
4 Rock Carvings of Usgalimal, Goa
5 Pandava Caves of Rivona .

References:
1 "Kuvalahala" - A book about Places of  Interest in Kolar
2 The Megalithic Culture in South India - By B.K.Gururaja Rao
3 Wiki