Megalithic Burial Sites (Pudukottai - Tamil Nadu) | My Travelogue - Indian Travel Blogger, Heritage enthusiast & UNESCO hunter!

First things first, I am sorry for not posting anything last week. I was off to Pudukottai with some 30 people, to enjoy not just temples and heritage but also nature, and best of all - Megalithic Burial Sites!!! Yes, something that goes as back as 2000 yrs old, inspires me more than anything else!!! Remember my old post on 2nd C CE Jain Beds of Arunattan Malai? It is one of the places that I always mention when I talk about my travels!!! So, this one is much earlier than that and I got all the more awe-filled!!! Pudukottai is definitely one of the fascinating but unusual places to visit in Tamil Nadu, India.

MEGALITHIC BURIAL SITES OF PUDUKOTTAI, TAMIL NADU

So, what is Megalithic Burial? How were people buried in the Megalithic period, in India? What are the megalithic burial types? Since the megalithic period (in fact even till 1st C AD - Sangam Period), burials were done, either in urns (in terracotta pots) or graves (direct burial).

WHERE ARE THE MEGALITHIC BURIAL SITES IN SOUTH INDIA & IN PUDUKOTTAI, TAMIL NADU?

So, here in Pudukottai, such burial sites are so many, several thousands!!! I was awestruck!!! Absolutely speechless!!! Megalithic burials have been excavated everywhere in this entire region - Amburapatti, Ammachathiram, Annavasal, Kizhaiyur, Melur, Mootamapatti, Narangianpatti, Perungalur, Peyal, Poyyamani, Puttambur, Sathyamangalam, Sengalur, Sittannavasal, Tayinippatti, Tekkattur, Tiruppur, Vadaguppatti, Vattanakuruchi and Vilappatti.

This place we saw was in Annavasal - near Sittannavasal & Ezhadipattam just beside the highway. Locally these are called Mudhu Makkal Thazhi.

Also Read:
Megalithic Burial sites in India - Thirupporur, Siruthavur,
Megalithic Burial sites in Europe & UK - Hal Safleni Hypogeum, Malta; Stonehenge, England; Weris Belgium

HOW DO MEGALITHIC BURIAL SITES LOOK LIKE?

It is pretty easy to identify these!!! This is how it actually looks like - A huge circle of laterite blocks, with granite slabs in the centre. Thanks to nature's fury over the years, the granite here is corroded and smoothened like pebbles! These granite slabs, a kept in a form of a square of about 3 feet per side, with a partition at the centre, forming 2 rectangles.

HOW WERE MEGALITHIC BURIALS DONE?

The body of the dead is kept in an urn in one of these sides and on the other are some of their possessions and food grains. Someone asked a valid question in the group, 'any valuables also kept along with it?'. No, nothing. Mostly it was foodgrains & implements & tools!!! That's Prof. Muthazhagan showing a crude megalithic tool.

MEGALITHIC POTTERY

There were pieces of terracotta scattered everywhere... At some places, I also saw just the brim of the buried urn over the soil.

JAINISM IN PUDUKOTTAI, TAMILNADU

Next was the era when Jainism had a stronghold in this region. There are Jain Beds and inscriptions of that era here, like Arnattan Malai, but extremely high in number here! Yeah, that's where we ventured next - from megalithic era to the next few centuries targeting the ancient Jain sites....

PUDUKOTTAI TRAVELOGUE TAMILNADU

Megalithic burial sites, Narttamalai, Vijaylaya Choleeswaram, Sittannavasal, Ezhadipattam, Navachunai, Thirumayam, Avudaiyar Koil, Kodumbalur and Kudumiyanmalai temples, Malaiyadipatti, Madathukoil, Thirukattalai temples, Pudukottai town, Kaliapatti, Vesalur, Jainism in Pudukottai

WHERE IS PUDUKOTTAI?

Chennai to Pudukottai distance and route: 400 km via Villupuram, Trichy

How to reach Pudukottai from Chennai: Trains to Rameshwaram go via Pudukottai. Trains / Buses can be taken to Trichy and regular buses are available from Trichy.

Trichy to Pudukottai distance and route: 50 km. Regular buses are available.

Madurai to Pudukottai distance and route: 115 km via Tirupatthur

Coimbatore to Pudukottai distance and route: 300 km via Dharapuram, Dindigul

In Pudukottai the burial sites are located in several places. The one we visited is in Ammachathiram between Narthamalai and Sittannavasal.

Where are Megalithic Burial Sites in Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu (on Google Maps): Megalithic Burials Ammachathiram,

Other Megalithic Burials sites nearby: Megalithic Burials Ammachathiram, Megalithic Burials Oduvampatti, Megalithic Burials Sengalur

Dedicated to Prof. Swaminathan, Prof. Muthazhagan, Prof. Jambunathan, and the whole group...

12 comments:

TeamgsquareJanuary 31, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Wow , nice to know about this site . We too visited one such site near Bangalore .http://teamgsquare.blogspot.in/2011/10/mysterious-stone-cricles-varlakonda.html
vjJanuary 31, 2012 at 10:26 AM
Trust you all had a great time. my take on the stone circles http://poetryinstone.in/lang/en/2010/03/05/where-it-all-began-in-south-india-stone-circles.html
C SureshJanuary 31, 2012 at 10:27 AM
Waiting for the rest from your copious notes. Btw, it is Prof. Jambunathan, if I am not mistaken. C. Suresh
R Niranjan DasJanuary 31, 2012 at 11:55 AM
Wow, thats a good find. Interesting post.

www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com
LGJanuary 31, 2012 at 3:50 PM
AMAZING. I find it humbling that I may have descended from one of the people buried there.
AkumJanuary 31, 2012 at 4:00 PM
Just love coming here, everyday is a new adventure here. Thanks for sharing!