A 14-feet tall menhir, a megalithic structure purportedly from the Sangam era, was recently discovered by a team of archaeologists in Kurumbapalayam village near Pollachi.
The team from Virarajendran Archaeological and Historical Research Centre in Tiruppur also discovered another structure called “cairn circle”, adjacent to the menhir, during a field survey, according to S. Ravikumar, director of the team. The structures might have been set up between 300 BC and 300 AD.
In Tamil Nadu, menhirs are generally found in Kodumanal in Erode and in certain locations in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts, Mr. Ravikumar said. “This is the first time such a structure has been discovered within Coimbatore district,” he claimed. The structure is four feet wide at the bottom.
The cairn circle is a circular arrangement of large stones around a burial site, Mr. Rajkumar explained. The belongings of the deceased person, along with their mortal remains, were placed in a burial urn and buried at the site.
The menhir could have been erected in memory of a chieftain of an ethnic tribal group who attained matryrdom and was worshipped by the tribal communities, according to Mr. Ravikumar. “Menhirs are predecessors to hero stones,” he said. But, menhirs do not have any sculptures or inscriptions.
The descriptions of menhir and cairn circle can be found in Akananuru, one of the prominent works of Sangam literature, Mr. Ravikumar said. Poem 269 refers to menhirs as “ nedunkal” and cairn circles were described in Poem 109, he noted.
The structures were discovered on June 20 and broken pieces of red-black pottery were discovered nearby the menhir on July 14, Mr. Ravikumar said.
