Prehistoric Ash-mounds of Karnataka

Our ancestors have left behind marks of their lives, with and without intention. The ones with a purpose are rock paintings, petroglyphs and tombs. The ones which just remained are ash-mounds. Why and how were these ash-mounds created? Obviously when combustible material was burned completely, what remains at the end of the process is ash. Considering the Neolithic lifestyle, the material that were burnt could be wood, cow-dung cakes and agricultural waste. Reason for making the fire could be to bake earthenware like pots, jars, plates, toys, jewelry and stoves. It is also possible that fire was made to dispose house-hold stuff during an annual ritual. Or its even possible that human bodies were burnt in a mass cremation after a battle or an epidemic.

Hundreds of ash mounds were located across the northern part of Karnataka. The well known sites are Kappagallu, Budihal, Kudathini and Hallur - these are the ones I've visited.

Here's the first prehistoric ash-mound I ever saw.. the one next to Hiregudda near Sanaganakallu. Many years ago there were three of them, two mounds were flattened out to facilitate cultivation and only one remains now. This mound id about 60 meters by 40 meters by 3 meters, its well preserved. Thanks to our friend Ramadasa for patiently sharing his thoughts.

Sanganakallu-Kappagallu

This ash is supposed to be the remains of excessively burnt cow-dung and wood. It is believed that prehistoric cattle keepers burnt heaps of cow-dung during an annual ritual or cleansing process. It is also possible that fires were kept burning to keep away wild animals. Ash hardens when it comes in contact with moisture and oxygen rich air for extended periods of time.

Kappagallu

Budhihal was the second site. There were several low mounds, all were badly damaged.

Budihal

Eranna, resident of Budihal walked me around and found lot of earthen pottery pieces. Local people had hauled away cart loads of this ash to their fields.. they consider this as good fertilizer. Though archaeologists have confirmed this as a Neolithic site, there's no action taken to protect the mounds.

Budihal

The ash-mound at Kudathini is probably the best preserved one. It measures about 191 meters by 50 meters by 7 meters high. The surface is hard yet soft enough for grass to thrive on it.

Budigunta

Though the mound is located on a state highway, it has been left intact, probably this is a preserved site though there's no board declaring it as protected. Probably there was a board planted later it got stolen.

Budigunta

Ash-mound at Hallur, on the left bank of river Tungabhadra is the largest one ever seen. The mound is spread over 30 acres easily, and reaches heights of 10 meters at places. The mound was a site to a fort as well, even to this day ruins of walls can be seen. Suresh a resident of Hallur village showed me all over the site. Literally every step I could see pieces of pottery.. black, red, brown. We found charcoal pieces, layers of different types of soil, grinding stones, bones, hair, and what not.

Hallur

Considering the size, it could be the oldest ash-mound as well. However, the sad part is the monument is it's completely neglected, rather ignored by governments. The worst part is this - residents of Hallur village are hauling away the ash by tractor-trailers to their fields.. it seems farmers consider this a very good fertilizer. People are totally ignorant about their prehistoric heritage.

Here's a list of known ash-mounds in Karnataka state.

Site	nearest town / village	Taluq	District
Bellagallu		Bellary Rural	Bellary
Benakal		Hagaribommanahalli	Bellary
Bhimarayanagudi	Bhimarayanagudi	Shahpur	Yadgir
Budigunta	Kudathini	Bellary West	Bellary
Budihal	Kodekal	Shorapur	Yadgir
Budinni		Devadurga	Raichur
Gadiganur	Gadiganur	Hospet	Bellary
Gaudur		Lingsugur	Raichur
Hallur	Hallur	Hirekerur	Haveri
Kakballa			Bellary
Kakkera		Shorapur	Yadgir
Kanakuppe		Jagalur	Davangere
Kanchagara		Siruguppa	Bellary
Kavital	Kavital	Manvi	Raichur
Kergunty		Lingsugur	Raichur
Kurkundi			Raichur
Manvi		Manvi	Raichur
Palkamdoddi		Raichur	Raichur
Piklihal		Lingsugur	Raichur
Sanavaspur			Raichur
Sanganakallu	Sanganakallu	Bellary	Bellary
Suguru			Raichur
Wandalli		Lingsugur	Raichur
Yergunti		Shorapur	Yadgir

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Prehistoric Ash-mound of Hallur

Hallur, situated on Tungabhadra river bank in Haveri district is know for a prehistoric ash-mound. Hallur's ash-mound was discovered by Nagaraja Rao in 1962 and excavated in 1965. The excavations revealed two periods of human occupation- 1. Neolithic-Chalcolithic (between 2000 BC and 1200 BC) and 2. an overlapping period between Neolithic-Chalcolithic and early Iron Age. During the excavations several artifacts were found- iron arrowheads, daggers & knives and earthenware. Pottery found was black-and-red ware with lines and patterns in white drawn over them.
March 17, 2014

I arrived at Hallur by 3 PM. At the village entrance my inquiries for ash-mound's location caught few people's attention. Of them one persons seem to have an interest for history. In fact he sprang a surprise- ruins of Hallur's mud fort. Wow! The search for an ash-mound came with a bonus :) I asked him if he could take me to the site. Yes! My guide's name is Suresh F Tilawalli. We hopped into the cab and took a dirt branching out of the village's main street. Just outside the village and close to the site, Suresh showed couple of neglected ancient sculptures- damaged images of Hanuman and a slab with Kannada inscription : (

Hanuman | Slab with Kannada inscription

A short distance away to our right was the fort. This mound is one the corners. A wide trench running along the fort perimeter indicates the presence of a moat.

We take the dirt path going into the fort, towards the river. We stopped by a large excavated pit to out left. The white earth seen here is actually ash. I could see pottery pieces on every square foot, literally. This ash-mound is spread over 32 acres and over the ash-mound itself sits the fort. Suresh spoke about excavations carried out during 1990s.. hundreds of artefacts were found in this pit. Well, digging did not stop there.. in still continues. But why? Local people hauled loads of this dirt-ash mixture to their fields because they believe it improves soil's fertility and crops yield. Off late with increasing fertilizer prices, farmers have resorted to a large scale operation.

We inspect a layer of ash at a spot. The ash grey and fine. Suresh lets go a handful in the air, the mild breeze blows it away.

Suresh leads the way to the 'ash mine'. This is where earthmovers load hundreds of tractor-trailers every week. It does resemble a mine.

The excavations have revealed the innards of the ash-mound. Layers of different colors formed over time can be seen here. We locate a damaged grinding stone, the type used to grind cereals into flour. The concave surface is well ground, proof it was well used before coming to this state. This stone reminds me of similar grinding stones seen at Hiregudda near Sangankallu.

Here every footfall raised a mini cloud of ash. At places our feet would sink into the fine ash.

Next we inspect a much wall with several layers of dirt and ash. At this point the mound is about 15' high. This is a very ideal spot to study the content.

Suresh points at a mass of ash and bits of charcoal embedded in earth.

Close look at ash and charcoal bits.

Here Suresh shows a layer of stones embedded into ash-earth mixture. His opinion is that a wall was built here. It does seem like a wall. Close by we found two more grinding stones the type used to grind wet food matter like batter or masala.

Here's a small sample of artefacts collected in 30 minutes- bone fragments, grinding stones and pottery shreds. Notice the bottom right piece- the red-black ware as mentioned in Ashmounds and hilltop villages: The search for early agriculture in southern India.

Few more closer views:

layers of ash, red and brown earth

ash, pottery shred and a tuft of hair like strands

black and grey shreds of pottery

Here's a short video of the ash mine-

Sadly, this important prehistoric monument is being vandalized. Several hundreds of trailer loads have been looted, doing permanent damage and loss of invaluable artefacts. A short distance from here is a sand mining setup. Oh mankind, what ever you are upto!!

We move to the highest point of the mound/fort. That's Tungabhadra flowing in our direction. Hallur village is the background, concealed by a wall of trees.

Suresh wanted to show me a stone structure with a passage. The structure was probably built during 16th century. It looks like a sentry/docking point for boats navigating the river, bringing in supplies for the fort. Such docking points can be seen at Arani, Havanur and Nadivi forts too.

In this view, on the left is a stairway descending into the structure. Perhaps it has a passage below which worked as an underwater entrance.

The structure as seen from river bed.

Blazing Sun had literally roasted me. We went to the water and cooled off. Bare feet in water felt great, I felt rejuvenated. We walked back the cab and drove back to the village. Back at the village entrance, we exchanged phone numbers over tea. We spoke of the hillock within Hallur's sight. The hill has peculiar rock formations on its southern face. The rocks are spiky, sticking out of the hill, varying in height from 4' to 12'. Also on the hill is a shrine dedicated to Shri Lakshmi Ranganath Swamy believed to be a Udbhava Murthy a self created image. Time being a constraint, I had to leave. Thanks to Suresh for his patience and time.

Here are links to few more ash-mounds of Karnataka-

Location	Taluq	District
Kappagallu	Bellary	Bellary
Kudathini	Bellary	Bellary
Budhihal	Shorapur	Yadgir

The day ended with a beautiful sunburst sunset.

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Prehistoric Ash Mound of Kudathini

March 2013

On the way to Sandur, we had driven past this mound but we never even realized it was no ordinary mound but a prehistoric ashmound.

December 23, 2013

We left Bellary early morning, heading back towards Dharwad. My plan was to locate the prehistoric ashmound and then spend some time at Kamalapur and Hampi on the way. This time I had noted the location of the mound- it was close to the south-west corner of Bellary Thermal Power Station's compound. We drove past Kudatini town and then BTPS main entrance.. We stopped and inquired at a tea shop but those folks were ignorant about the mound even though they were residents of this village. Anyway, we drove on.. I kept an eye on the compound wall.to my right. About 1½ kilometers from the main entrance the compound wall turned north.. this must be the south-west corner. Yes, the mound was dead ahead. The mound is 5½ kilometers from Kudatini village.

The mound looked like a hillock. It has a stone-cement wall around it.. looks like an effort to protect the ashmound. We parked next to the mound, off the highway. This was used as a bye lane by truckers and this side of the ashmound was used as a toilet and dump for trash. We managed to find a relatively clean spot to climb on to the mound. The place where I climbed on to the wall had two angular stubs embedded in the concrete - I'm pretty sure those are the remains of a board, either a notice that this is a protected site or a signage stating the importance of this mound.

The road on the right is Bellary-Torangal road and on the left is the bye-lane. Standing on the slope I shot this picture. The ashmound is roughly oval in plan measuring 310' in length and 150' at the middle and 20' at its highest.

When seen closely the surface is different compared to the neighboring hillocks. While the hills are covered by shrubbery this ashmound is covered mostly by grass and few shrubs.

On the surface were hard but light white colored lumps. I believe these were ash lumps because ash when exposed to air for a prolonged period hardens. However, Mohan Mama's and Prakash's opinion differed, they said those lumps are a type of stone called Sunburli. They said these lumps were just like sunburli stones found in black soil fields near Dharwad.

Standing at the highest point of the ashmound.

Hardened lumps sticking out of the mound. The two cooling towers of BTPS.

A close up view of a lump.

A recently made pit to check what lies under the surface.

Now the questions-
How did such a huge ashmound come into existence?
Studies have revealed these are not natural creations but man-made.

What actions of man lead to the creation of an ashmound?
Obviously large quantity of matter was burnt over a prolonged period, perhaps 7 to 8 months. Studies have also indicated that most sites had ash which were result of burning cowdung.

What was the purpose or reasons for such fires?
Reasons could be any of the following- 1. annual cleansing ritual, 2. to produce lime, 3. to bake mud pots, or 4. to scare away wild animals. Pieces of pottery have been found in ash mounds, their presence could mean anything - either pots were burnt to harden them or pots filled with food was offered to Agni during rituals. 

We spent around 45 minutes here, trying to raise questions to each other and then find answers to those questions. The discussion went on and on..

Two lumps I brought home. I want to fetch Sunburli stones from a black soil field and compare them with the lumps.

Months have passed by, I'm yet to make a trip to a filed to find the light weight white colored Sunburli.

To see two more ash mound sites, check out these two posts-
Prehistoric Ash Mound of Kappagallu
Prehistoric Ash Mounds of Boodhihal

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Prehistoric Ash Mounds of Budihal

Budhihal village is located in Surpur taluq of Yadgiri district. Budhihal is mentioned along with Hagaratgi and Rajan Kollur in Meadows Taylor's 'Megalithic Tombs and Other Ancient Remains in the Deccan'. The name Budhihal literally means 'old ash'. Hence this village is known for its ancient ash mounds.

November 26, 2013

We drove from Talikoti side, passed through Hagaratgi village and reached Budhihal village. The ash mounds are situated a kilometer to the northern and north-eastern sides.

At least four large ash mounds can be identified in satellite maps; 1½ kms away are three mounds and another 1½ kms fruther is a larger ash-mound. In the picture below is the first group of mounds. Mounds 1 and 2 are nearly 150 meters in diameter. Both are badly damaged.. vandalized would be the right word.

This is Eranna from Budhihal village, he was my guide. Eranna is standing close to the center of ash mound 2. Most of the ash has been carted away.. Eranna said people use it for construction work. Sad.

A closer look at the mound. On the outside it is harder, a crust has formed because of exposure to air and moisture. There are spots where grey ash can be seem clearly. Beside ash the mound seems to consist dirt, stones and lime powder too. The white powdery substance could be lime (see inset).

Here is a close up of the section of the mound. Different layers are visible. Focus on the dark grey patch within the circle - the light grey arc is piece of pottery.

I pulled out the pottery piece to expose the ash inside. I felt it with my finger tips, it is definitely ash.. seems it is wood ash.

I collected few pottery pieces and ash lumps to add to my collection. Eranna is holding the samples.

Artifacts from Budhihal- two ash lumps and three pieces of pottery. The pottery pieces still have a coating of fine ash.

This mound is about 5' at the tallest point.

On the edge of the mound are fist sized stones mixed into the ash. Looks like a ring of stone wall encircled the burning mass. The stone circle might have been created to contain the ash from spreading out and also to contain the fire. It is also possible that a shallow but wide pit existed which eventually filled with ash and became a mound.

What was the purpose of these fires?
Burn limestone to produce lime for domestic use like white-wash dwellings?
An annual ritual where old house-hold articles were incinerated?
A kiln to bake pottery?
To scare away wild animals?

We come to mound 2. As you see a road has cut right through the mound.

This mound is about 3 feet at the highest point. Eranna said if you stood on this mound and pounded it with your feet you hear a dull sound.. as though it is hollow within.

People here are aware of the historical importance of these mounds, yet they vandalize it.

A mound of excavated sand dumped in a fenced farm land. That seems like two or three tractor loads of ash.

This site needs to be protected and preserved.. at least for the sake of Budhihal's name.

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