Post on 08-Sep-2014
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ANCIENT CAVES IN KERALA
There are two locations in Kerala are famous for Stone-age caves….
1. Edakkal Caves 2. Marayur – Megalithic Dolmens and Rock Painting Sites
1:EDAKKAL CAVES, WAYANAD
The Edakkal caves situated about 4,000 feet above sea level on the Ambukuthi hillock in Wayand. These are not technically caves, but rather a cleft or rift approximately 96 feet (29 m) by 22 feet (6.7 m), a 30-
foot-deep (9.1 m) fissure caused by a piece of rock splitting away from the main body. On one side of the cleft is a rock weighing several tons that covers the cleft to form the 'roof' of the cave. The carvings are of
human and animal figures, tools used by humans and of symbols yet to be deciphered, suggesting the presence of a prehistoric settlement.
The caves contain drawings that range over periods from as early as 5000 BC to 1000 BC. The youngest group of paintings have been in the news for a possible connection to the Indus Valley Civilization.
Notes about Edakkal Cave
Tourists in Edakkal Cave
Historian M.R. Raghava Varier of the Kerala state archaeology department identified a sign “a man with jar cup” that is the most distinct motif of the Indus valley civilization.
The identified 429 signs, "a man with jar cup", a symbol unique to the Indus civilisation and other compound letters testified to remnants of the Harappan
culture, spanning from 2300 BC to 1700 BC have been found in this cave. The ‘jar’ is more or less same as those in Indus ligature. But the human figure is a little
different.
Roof of the Cave
Fred Fawcett was a Superintendent of Police who served British government in Kozhikode. He had gone to Wayanad on an invitation from Colin MacKinzie, a planter who wanted him to join him on a hunting expedition. The planter showed him rock engraving in a cave and some very old implements which were found in his estate in 1890. They were situated on the western side of Ambukuthimala hill twelve kilometres south-west of the town of Sultan’s Battery in the Wayanad District of Kerala on an ancient route connecting the high ranges of Mysore to the ports of Malabar.
Entrance to Edakkal Cave
Exit from the Edakkal Cave
Inside Edakkal Cave
Rock Carvings on the Wall of Cave
Climb to Edakkal Cave Site
Trekking to Edakkal Cave Site is really adventurous
Hill top view from Edakkal Cave Site, Marvelous!!!
Marayur claims to be a part of a Stone Age civilization that is as old as 10,000 B.C. It is also home to a later period of large-scale dolmen-building. The land and its unique dolmens, caves, rock edicts and engravings declare its rich heritage.
2: Marayur – Megalithic Dolmens and Rock Paintings
People migrated from Tamil Nadu to this area when the Madurai king Thirumalainaicker was defeated by Tippu Sultan, in the eighteenth century CE. Migrated people created five villages which are Kanthalloor, Keezhanthur, Karayur, Marayur and Kottakudi. These villages were called as ‘Anju nadu, literally meaning “five lands”. However these place names are very old and aboriginal tribes still live in these villages, with their unique customs.
Megalithic Dolmens, also called Muniyaras, these dolmens belong to the Iron Age. These dolmenoids were burial chambers made of four stones placed on edge and covered by a fifth stone called the cap stone.
Some of these Dolmenoids contain several burial chambers, while others have a quadrangle scooped out in laterite and lined on the sides with granite slabs. These are also covered with cap stones.
The earthen burial urns (nannangady) unearthed from Dolmens.
Ancient rock paintings are part of Marayur heritage at Attala, Ezhuthu Guha (literally means “cave of writing”), Kovilkadavu and Manala in Marayur panchayat.
Attala Cave Site in Marayur
Most of the parts of Western Ghats, Kerala are the sites of ancient artefacts from stone-age civilization. This is a piece of news reading related to findings of such materials near a local school in Kerala.
1.Kottukal Kal Thrikovil Cave Temple
2.Kaviyoor Thrikkakkudi Cave Temple
3.Thrukkoor Mahadeva Temple
4.Madavoorpara Rock Cut Temple
5.Punarjani Cave
CAVE TEMPLES IN KERALA
Kottukkal cave temple, also known as Kaltrikkovil in Malayalam, is an existing example of rock cut architecture, built between 6th and 8th centuries CE. It is situated in village named Kottukkal, near Anchal, Kollam district, Kerala, India. Historians read its origin back to the 7th century AD when 'Nedila Paranthaka Nedumchadayan' who ruled Chadayamangalam the nearby place, made the rock cut temple.
Thrikkakkudi Cave TempleLocated on the banks of the river Manimala, Kaviyoor. It bears close resemblance to the Pallava style of architecture and has prompted historians to date it to a period as early as the eighth century AD. The engravings here are among the earliest specimens of stone sculptures in Kerala.
Thrukkoor Mahadeva Temple: A rock cut cave is more than 1500 years old, that is 24 ft. in length and 18 ft. in both width and height.
Madavoorpara Rock Cut Temple A 1300-year-old cave temple. Madavoorpara is around 17 km from the Thiruvananthapuram.
Punarjani Cave: The "punarjani" cave is in between the Vilwamala and the Bhoothamala near Thrissur, Kerala.
The Punarajani cave is a natural 15-meter long tunnel in the rocky cliff. It is believed that by crawling through the tunnel from one end to the other, one washes away all his sins and thus attains rebirth.