Dolmen sites in Karnataka

The word dolmen was familiar to me since my early childhood days. Memories of seeing a dolmen in "Asterix and the Golden Sickle" are fresh to this day. Asterix and Obelix are in search of a dolmen in a forest, it starts raining, they take shelter a dolmen unaware that's the very dolmen they wanted to find. Back then I would imagine how it would be see a real one and I thought dolmens were made for shelter. Decades later, I stumbled upon real dolmens and the possible reasons behind their creation. The first dolmen I saw was the one near Bachangudda hill near the World Heritage Site Pattadakal. Around that time I came across sources which evoked deeper interest in prehistoric sites which led to more research & explorations. The sources include historical books, online portals and people. One person I have mention here is Ramadasa of Sanganakallu village near Bellary. Ramadasa's interest & knowledge of prehistory is at another level, it combines archaeology and astronomy. Then there were accidental discoveries while exploring forts. At this point, I have mention that there's a strong connection between prehistoric sites and forts, only some forts  based on topography. Here's are brief writeups on each of the dolmen sites I happened to visit, followed by the sites I've heard and have intentions of visiting them.

Dolmen of Bachangudda: My first visit to this site was Dec 2011 during a solo tour of Badami, Pattadakal & Aihole. The dolmen is situated about 2 km from Pattadakal on Badami-Pattadakal road. It's situated right besides the road and surrounded by farm lands on three sides. I've stopped here at least half a dozen times since 2011 when it was unfenced. 

A few years ago the site was fenced and a writeup was posted. Below is the transcription of the writeup:

This megalith-a dolmen-is a burial or memorial burial belonging to 1st Millennium BCE to 3rd Century CE. It is a rectangular chamber formed by four large and thick orthostats on the sides. Bearing a larger capstone at the top. The side orthostats. At both the ends project laterally across the edges of the orthostats on the front and rear. The south-east facing front orthostat has a rectangular opening larger than a normal port-hole. On the front side. In continuation of the western orthostat. Is seen only the broken edge of another orthostat. There are three other huge fallen slabs in front of the chamber. These originally formed probably another north-south oriented compartment of the extant chamber. The present front slab with the rectangular opening is likely a segmental orthostat dividing the chamber into two compartments. Traces of cairn packing of stone rubbles and earth enclosing the chamber are visible on the northern side but this is a vague indication that the chamber was originally surrounded by a stone circle.

Of all the sites, this dolmen seems to be the most advanced in terms of design and finish. Also personally I feel this structure is an early form of Hindu temple.

During second or third visit here, local people told us about ancient stone structures about 230 meters towards Bachingudda village. There are three megalithic burial chambers, all have been vandalized badly. This is one of the three and that's Malatesh my travel partner for a few years. Compared to the previous dolmen these three are quite primitive, and similar to the ones at Aihole and Guledgudda.

Dolmens of Aihole: I discovered Aihole dolmens during my fourth or fifth visit i.e. in September 2012. This is one of the largest sites with close to eighty dolmens, many of them in ruins. The site is a sloping plateau overlooking the valley where river Malaprabha flows. Ever since this discovery I've come here again four times. I wanted people to see this site. On the same hill are natural rock shelters where you can see ancient paintings, mostly hyena fur pattern. This place gives a tiny glimpse into ancient practices. Here are a few sample burial chambers. The general design is four slabs placed vertically forming a square, the fifth slab is placed horizontally on top of the standing four. However, here most of them are vandalized, one or more slabs are removed or missing.

The first picture here, this burial chamber is the most stylish, it has an attitude. This one is about 3' high. Inside remains of red soil is seen. Originally the inner space was packed with red soil and a corpse, maybe more than one. The idea behind this elaborate arrangement is to protect the mortal remains from scavenging beats like hyenas which seemed to thrive here in those times. Maybe this kind of burial was reserved for tribe leaders and their families.

The second one here is shorter to the one above. This is not more than 2' high. This too is vandalized but the red soil inside is almost intact. Going by its height, this one might've contained one corpse. I'm wondering if archaeologists have run tests on this red soil. Surprisingly this site is unprotected. There's no declaration usually found at archaeological sites.

The third one is the largest dolmen of Aihole site. It's almost 4½' high. Going by its volume this could contain four or five bodies. In the background is Meguti Gudi which marks the end of this plateau.

Dolmens of Hire Benakal: Now we are talking about the largest megalithic site of Karnataka state, hoping I'm not wrong in saying this. I'd visited this site in July 2012. Situated on a range of hillocks near Koppal, the site is spread over a large area which could be marked off as three clusters. We reached the site with just an hour left for sunset, so we spent most of the time at the main part of the site, just walked through another cluster and missed one cluster completely. Local people call them Moreyara Mane which roughly translates to dwarves houses. I feel that's not case, they are meant to be burial chambers.

The below pictures are part of the first cluster which consisted of smaller burial chambers with and without port-holes. Some of the burial chambers were smaller. As you see most of them had been vandalized. I just hope the destruction of these invaluable artifacts has stopped hence.

Moving on to the main cluster. The sight of these huge structures left us wondering, surprised and admiration for those ancient builders' talents. These dolmens are assembly of granite slabs of uniform thickness. The construction is similar to dolmens of other sites except for minor differences. Here we have four trapezoidal slabs placed vertically which form the walls, and a circular slab forming the cover. The smallest dolmen was maybe 5' high and the tallest almost 10'. The extent of damage is evident - broken pieces of slabs strewn between the dolmens. As per archaeologists there were around 300 dolmens in this particular cluster however the numbers were much lesser during our visit.

 Coming to the purpose of these huge structures, I'm little confused. Unlike the smaller dolmens there's no loose soil under the larger dolmens. No packed soil inside any of the dolmens. So wondering how the burials were done.

Before moving on to the next site, I would like to add that there are a number of rock paintings close to these dolmens. Also, there one sculpted stone known as the kettle drum which is about a meter in diameter. Apparently the stone drum emits a boom when struck with wooden club. I'm keeping my fingers crossed wishing the kettle drum- which is one of it's kind in Karnataka -is safe and untouched.

Dolmens of Rajan Kollur: I learned about this site in Philip Meadows Taylor's "Megalithic tombs and other ancient remains in the Deccan." Taylor had called Rajan Kollur a major megalithic site of Karnataka. Indeed it is. Based on my knowledge, Rajan Kollur is third largest, Aihole site is second largest and Hire Benakal is the largest. There's another site near Konnur town in Belagavi district. Size of the site is one matter but dolmen size is another. The larger dolmens here beat the largest dolmen of Aihole. Yes, some of the dolmen are massive, the slabs are seriously bulky.

While most other places dolmen are called Moreyara Manae, people of Rajan Kollur call them Buddara Manae. I'd visited this site in November 2013, it was well protected and an infographic posted near the entrance gave out detailed archaeological findings of this site. I hope the site is well maintained. Besides the main enclosure, there are a few more dolmens in an open ground 200 meters to east.

Remains of Brahmagiri dolmens: This prehistoric burial site is situated at the base of Brahmagiri hill at Ashoka Siddapura village in Chitradurga district, about 2.3 km from the village bus-stop. I'd visited this site in December 2013. I was expecting to see dolmens similar to Hire Benkal. I was shattered seeing the broken remains of granite slabs sticking out from the ground. Apparently local people 'harvested' the slabs for construction work. A local man told us there were hundreds of them scattered in fields, people just removed them to clear their fields. The slabs were either sold off or used as construction material. This is a lost site.

The sites where dolmens are made of granite are Hire Benakal, Kumathi and Brahmagiri. Maybe sites in southern Karnataka too. At sites in the northern parts like Aihole, Rajan Kollur, and others dolmens are made of sandstone blocks or other darker harder stone types.

Dolmen of Hanamasagar hill: This little dolmen was an accidental discovery while exploring the ruins of the fort on Hanamasagar hill in November 2012. Within the fort is a temple dedicated to Venkateshwara popularly known as Abhinava Thirupathi. After seeing the inner space of the small fort, I was going around the walls checking out for ruins on the slopes and I bumped into this little structure, barely 2'x2'x2'. A  few meters away there was a damaged dolmen of similar size. As I remember only two dolmen were seen here. I'd read that a stone circle existed in the plains near the hill but I couldn't find it. Made of rough cut blocks, this dolmen could be from the same period as dolmens of Aihole, Konnur and Rajan Kollur.

Dolmens of Konnur: I read about this site on ASI Dharwad website but failed to find the site's location  online. A few years later I happened to travel towards Konnur and located it with the help of local person's help. A couple of kilometers away from Konnur, the site is hidden among farm lands. As per the two local guys who showed us around, dolmens here are known as Munivasada Guhegalu. First Moryara Manae, then Buddara Manae and now Munivasada Guhegalu.

A group of cist graves are in an enclosure along with five tombs of Jaina ascetics. The group consists of 2' high dolmen to larger ones spacious enough for an adult human. It is possible that Jaina ascetics used these dolmen to meditate hence they are called as Munivasada Guhegalu, meaning ascetic's cave.

The cist graves have been built using rough-cut sandstone blocks. Their build and looks are similar to the ones at Aihole, Hanamasagar and Rajan Kollur. It's possible all are from the same period. Some of the dolmen have been altered to increase inner space. For example; the one below. This one is perfect for a meditating monk.

While the fenced enclosure has a dozen or so structures, there are another dozen larger dolmens outside the enclosure. One unique feature seen in Konnur dolmens is the pair of horizontally buries slabs in front of the opening. Small or big, many of them have it.. let's call it a crude form of balustrade. One common feature of dolmens of Aihole, Konnur, Rajan Konnur, Hanamasagar- all are south facing.

After the tour of this site our guides said that many more dolmens in the hillocks not very far from here. Since we were out of time, I told our guides that would for another day. I'm yet to follow up on that.

Remains of Kutkankeri cist graves: Kutkankeri hill is situated 8 km to the north of Badami. I read about rock paintings at this prehistoric site on The Megalithic Portal. On these hills are fairly well preserved rock painting of Indian hyena fur pattern, an outline of a hand, an alien creature similar to human form and few other things. I'd visited Kutkankeri in September 2012. Though I was not expecting to see dolmens here it wasn't a surprise to see about eight dolmens but completely vandalized. These dolmens were made of sandstone blocks, the type of stone which is available easily here. I think there were stone circles as well around the dolmens.

Among all the ruins, below is the least damaged one. It was sad to see these invaluable monuments torn apart for petty gains.

Prehistoric graves of Guledgudda: Guledgudda is about 23 km northeast of Badami. The name Guledgudda roughly means nomad's hill. The objective of my visit was to see the fort ruins atop the hill. The hill is barren and has plenty of rock outcrops. We did find ruins of a fort and also ruined houses built of stone blocks. As we explored we found several dolmen and stone circles. Most of the artifacts were vandalized except for one stone circle which seemed perfectly preserved.

Here's the well preserved stone circle. In the background, there's stone arc, maybe it was a circle before a few stones went missing.

This looks remains of a cist grave.

I wish I had paid more attention to prehistoric graves. Perhaps I must visit this site again.

Dolmen in the jungles of Bandipur: This was another accidental discovery. I was traveling by cab to Ooty with a colleague. It's my habit to look out and study places. Somewhere in the jungles of Bandipur I spotted this dolmen. Since stopping was prohibited, I requested the driver to slow down for a couple of pictures. The dolmen was a hundred feet away from the road, used telephoto lens to shoot this picture. The dolmen is made of granite slabs. Like I said earlier, dolmens in southern Karnataka are made of granite slabs. I wonder if any more dolmens have survived here.

Ruins of a dolmen at Kumathi: I learned about Kumathi from my friend Ramadasa of Sanganakallu village. He had read a newspaper article about a dolmen at Kumathi. However, it so happened that Ramadasa was talking about two prehistoric anthropomorphic statues, and we at Kumathi located the remains of a dolmen. Here's our first discovery- a ruined dolmen made of granite slabs, with one of the slabs having a porthole. Had this been intact, this would've been similar to the dolmens of Hire Benakal.

The second discovery of that day was anthropomorphic statues, each 10' from the ground level. These two ancient creations are simply wonderful. Our day was made. Prehistoric people, like Mother Nature, keep springing surprises. Just to get an idea of their creations, do take a look at the 

Dolmen like structure of Wakkandurga: If I remember correctly, I located Wakkandurga fort on Wikimapia.org. I had noted location details of some six forts in this region and targeted to visit them all by the end of the day. Wakkandurga was the second fort of that morning. I was expecting to see a fort but the fort sprang a surprise- a dolmen like arrangement of stones.

A huge boulder of irregular shape is balanced on smaller boulders creating a shelter beneath. The capstone seems natural enough but the way its balanced on smaller boulders seems manmade unless. Not saying that it's not possible naturally because Nature is capable of anything.

Those were the sites I've been to. Following is the list of sites I'm yet to see:

1. Arasinaguppe, Chikkamagaluru District
2. Chikkajala, Bangalore Urban District
3. Doddamalthe, Somvarpet Taluk, Kodagu District
4. Gamangatti?
5. Hejjala, Ramanagara District
6. Hujagal, Magadi Taluk, Ramanagara District
7. Hunkunda, Kolar District
8. Kallur Naganahalli, Mysore District
9. Kittur, Mysore District
10. Managondanahalli, Bangalore Rural District
11. Palli, Karkala Taluk, Udupi District
12. Savandurga, Ramanagara District
13. Sulimolathe, Somvarpet Taluk, Kodagu District
14. Thalavadi Betta (fort), Ramanagara District.
15. Timmappana Betta, Ramanagara District
16. Valpady, Dakshina Kannada District

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Cairns and dolmen of Guledgudda

Guledgudda is one of the prehistoric sites of northern Karnataka. It is situated within the area known as Malaprabha Basin. The name Guledgudda can be split into Guled and Gudda. The latter means hill, and the former means gypsies or nomads. Together it could mean the hill where nomads camped. This is my understanding, it could have an entirely different meaning.

To the south of Guledgudda are other prehistoric sites namely Aihole, Pattadakal, Bachangudda, Kutkankeri, Hiregudda of Badami to name a few. In fact the entire area between Badami and Guledgudda is full of sandstone hillocks which were well suited for human habitation. These hills had natural shelters, abundant sources of water and wildlife. This place took care of the necessities of prehistoric times- food, water and shelter. Naturally, these hills were homes to ancient people.

I had visited Guledgudda on 23rd Feb 2013 and these photographs were shot during that visit. The purpose of my visit was to see the ruins of the fort on the hill top. On the flat topped hillock were a few shrines, ruins of walls & bastions, natural rock shelters, heaps of stones which were once stacked neatly as walls, and lastly there were stone arrangements on the north western side. Here are a few pictures of the stone arrangements seen at Guledguddda. These slabs are partially buried to keep them erect. They seem to be a part of the circle of stones forming a cairn.

Here we have two long lines of stones intersecting in the background. This seems like a boundary marker of a graveyard.

This place has a number of sandstone outcrops, a few of which are natural shelters. From my experience, almost all prehistoric sites have had one or more rock shelters which could be completely natural or a combination of natural and manmade. BTW, the person seen in these pictures is Malatesh, he had accompanied me on many excursions like this.

This is another view of the intersecting stone lines. 

There are hundreds of such boulders arranged in lines, arcs or circles.

Of all the artifacts seen here, this one seems like a damaged dolmen.

Next is a well preserved stone circle, a cairn. Looks like this was somehow not touched by vandals. In the background, there's a stone arc, probably a disturbed cairn burial tomb.

On another side of the stone circle is a badly disturbed burial site. I think this could be a cist burial.

After having restudied the decade old photos, I have thoughts of visiting Guldegudda again.

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remnants of prehistoric graves at Kutakanakeri

Kutakanakeri is a village 8 km north of Badami town. It is situated at the base of a large sandstone formation, rather a sandstone hillock which happens to be a prehistoric site. In the sprawling sandstone formation are several natural shelters which had been inhabited thousands of years ago. The evidence for human inhabitance are paintings on rocks depicting humans, animals and fur patterns. Also among the paintings are an outline of a hand, and a creature like a human but having different features. Then there are megalithic graves, all of which have been disturbed by humans. During our short tour of Kutkankeri hillock guided by a local person we saw about 10 to 15 graves, not a single one of them were close to the original condition like the megalithic graves on Aihole hillock. Below are a few pictures of the remnants, at least some evidence had survived. Now i.e. 11 years after my visit. I hope they haven't been disturbed any more. 

These sandstone slabs are rough rectangles measuring 5' x 5' approximately. The slabs are much longer considering the portion below ground level. These slabs are about 4" thick however thickness varies from grave to grave, there were slabs more than 6" thick like the one seen below. Our guide Fakirappa on the right and on the left is late Malatesh, a colleague then. There's a 4' x 4' slab flat on the ground in front of my friends and two partially buried slabs at an angle. As I remember, Fakirappa mentioned that they believe these to be graves of muslim people. Probably someone tried to dissuade vandals from disturbing the graves further.

The reason for disturbing the graves could be buried treasure. Ignorant people don't realize the historical value of these monuments. The damage is irreparable, archaeological evidence is lost forever.

A freshly dug put close to one of the graves, the slabs are strewn around. The vandals have dug a neat pit, almost a perfect square. It looks like the stone slabs had been much before the pit was dug. Treasure hunters try again and again hoping to find something valuable.

One more grave site. One might wonder how bodies were buried in these graves. Here's how: four slabs would be erected in a quadrilateral formation creating an open chamber. The corpse or corpses would be placed in the chamber and dirt would be poured to fill the empty space. Once the chamber is filled to the brim, a capstone would be placed over the vertical slabs sealing the tomb. This is a possible method, the burial process could be much more complex.

Three more large slabs. I'm assuming that these had never been fixed into the ground earlier. May be these slabs had been brought here to make a burial chamber and they weren't used at all.

One might also wonder about the source of these slabs. I'm certain that these slabs were obtained from this hill itself.

In some parts of the hill, there are layers which have almost separated from the hillock. This is one such example of bits which have been broken away.

This is another example with a number of bits which could be used to build smaller graves. Going by that assumption this spot could be a prehistoric quarry site. Certain stones form rifts naturally and separate over time due to temperature cycles. Sandstone is prone to such behavior making it easy to break away pieces. Also, sandstone being relatively softer, it can be shaped easily.

Another megalithic burial site close to Badami is Guledgudda.

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Dolmen of Hanamasagar

This dolmen was discovered while we explored the ruins of Hanamasagar fort on November 24th 2012. Hanamasagar fort is situated on a low elevation hill scattered with sandstone outcrops. The dolmen was found on the eastern slope. The dolmen is made of rough-cut sandstone slabs and measures approximately 2' x 2' x 2'. Going by the size of the tomb, only a small corpse could be buried in it. So probably this was a tomb made for a young child. I feel these tombs must be of the period between 1500 and 1000 BCE.

Close to the dolmen above we found a damaged dolmen which was also of the same size. These were the only two dolmen we could find during our hour long exploration.

These dolmen look similar to the dolmen seen on Aihole hill and at the megalithic site close to Konnur near Gokak. The dolmen at Aihole and Konnur are made of rough-cut sandstone slabs. The point to be noted is that small sized dolmen were fewer than the larger dolmen. Some of the dolmen were large enough to hold two or three adult bodies.

Dolmen at Konnur site

Dolmen on Aihole hill

For the reader's benefit below are the links to the two sites: 1. Megalithic burial site on Aihole hill and 2. Megalithic burial site of Konnur.

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Megalithic burial chambers of Konnur

The prehistoric site of Konnur was on my list of items for a few years. My efforts to locate it on Google Maps went in vain. The only way to locate it was to inquire with at Konnur. Quite often remotely situated prehistoric monuments are lost mainly due to human interference. So I wasn't sure if I'll be able to locate it all.

September 23, 2022
We arrived at Konnur around 2 PM. There were two items to see here- 1. a Chalukyan temple named Chikaleshwara Gudi and 2. Prehistoric megalithic tombs. We drove through the narrow streets of Konnur asking directions to the temple and parked our car at a junction. As we were inquiring about the temple, a shopkeeper noticed the temple caretaker and hailed him. The caretaker was friendly, he and his son lead me to Chikaleshwara Gudi. After a quick tour of the temple I inquired about the dolmen. Apparently the megalithic tombs are called as Munivasada Guhegalu (caves used by ascetics) or Shantisagar Gufa. The caretaker, Shankar Jiddimani, appointed his son Shivu to take us to the site. The site is situated a couple kilometers from the village. Shivu was familiar with the locale and we reached the site in a few minutes. The site is protected with a fencing wall around it, and has just one entry point. The caretaker of this site, Ravi welcomed us with a respectful smile. The site is L-shaped, the megalithic tombs are situated at the far end, rest of the area is just open ground with a few trees. Within this enclosure are tombs of Jain Munis as well. The little stone shelter in front of the five mantapas is one of the tombs.

I was so happy to be here, looking at another group of megalithic tombs. These are as rough as they can get, like the ones at Aihole, Rajan Kollur, Kutkankeri, and other remote locations. This rough little structure, despite its primitive form, has an artistic look. The sloping faces of the side slabs defines its stylish looks. The inside is dim, the floor is dirt. According to Ravi, the inside is a pit filled with dirt washed in by rainwater. The rocks buried around the tomb may not be there naturally, they have been fixed in a circle around the tomb. This is the first time I'm seeing a stone circle around a megalithic tomb although it is a feature of prehistoric tombs. Lets call this tomb #1.

Moving on to another tomb, let us call this tomb #2. Compared to tomb #1, tomb #2 slightly bigger. There are other differences as well. Their orientation; tomb one facing east and this tomb below is facing south. Also this tomb vertically fixed slab in the front. I think originally it was a pair of vertical slabs, now one of them is missing. Then there is a U-shaped extension to its right. Ravi said that during the recent rains, flowing rainwater deposited dirt in the tomb's chamber. Else we would've seen a square pit inside.

This is the rear view of the tomb. Going by its size, this could have been a tomb of a small child i.e. assuming the body was buried. However, it is possible that bodies were cremated and ashes buried in a tomb, in which case the size of the tomb doesn't matter.

Next to the western edge of the enclosure is this particular tomb. The slabs are granite, also it is larger and construction is slightly different.

The next one is a much larger one. Also it has a large chamber inside, large enough for an adult man to sit inside it. I think the stones piled up next it originally formed a circle around the tomb.

Konnur megalithic site details are available in ASI Dharwad Circle website. I'm quoting the description as it is: At Konnur, near the Gokak Falls, are extensive group of dolmens scattered in the fields. Like those of Aihole over the hill, these have also been enclosed with slabs but unlike them, they all face the south. The sherds of pottery and ash have been found. An interesting architectural element is, in front of their southern entrances, are set up two flat slabs on edge leaving a narrow lane of approach between them. The cells vary in size, but average about four feet square inside, and are proportionately high. Locally these tombs are called as Pandava houses while the Jaina call them as Munivasada Guhegalu.

This particular tomb is the largest of all in this enclosure. However it has been modified in the process of reconditioning it. The slabs forming the lane seem to be in original positions. The chamber inside(see inset) is much larger compared to the previous tomb. An adult of average height could easily step into the pit and sit comfortably.

Since this site has a Jaina connection, this tomb might have been used by Jaina ascetics to do Dhyana in isolation. Ascetics are known to vow silence & fasting for a certain period, so during that period they keep bare minimum contact with others. People serving the ascetics normally bring water, milk and fruits once a day, place them at the entrance and retreat. The stone masonry wall seen on the right is a recently built structure. Ravi said there's a tomb inside it.

This is the inside of the building . The little doorway on the right is the passage to an underground chamber. The chamber is large enough to accommodate 2 or 3 adults. The walls of the chamber are rough-cut slabs like the ones seen earlier. What I feel is this place was (may be still is) for performing Sallekana. Its a vow taken by certain Jaina ascetics who fast until death. Its my guess this room served that purpose. That's just a guess, my guides didn't mention that, they just said that Jain Munis lived here. This little fellow is Ravi's son Basu. A silent, energetic and active kid.

We had seen all the tombs in the enclosure. Ravi mentioned about a few more tombs behind a farmhouse opposite the enclosure entrance. The farmhouse and the adjoining farmland were owned by a Gowda, a village headman. Ravi said its okay to take a look. There were three tombs of which one was large and in good condition. In fact this is the largest seen here. The parallel slabs are akin to outstretched arms, as though the tomb is beckoning those looking at it. This tomb was 4 to 5 feet tall. A person of average height could easily pass through the doorway. Despite the crudeness of the structure, its has a certain quality, sturdy, stable and unshakable.

Fifteen-twenty feet away is another tomb, approximately the same size. This is where it flashed to me that all tombs were facing south except tomb #1.

That's the farmhouse and my guides- Ravi and Shivu. Ravi is pointing towards the sugarcane plantation on the other side of this house where there are a few more tombs, rather ruins of tombs.

This plot was recently tilled by a tractor, walking through this uneven land requires twice the effort. Like I said before these are ruins of what were beautiful structures. There's little doubt that human hands were behind the mutilation. Probably a few years later the ruins would go missing.

This must have been a really big one. The capstone and rear slab are missing. On its front (the other side) is one of the partially buried slabs.

Within the same tilled plot is another set of three tombs, again all have been disturbed, several parts of the tombs are missing.

Of the three, this is the best preserved one. If we assume this as the original form, then this design is different compared to other tombs here.

With that tomb, we were almost done with this site for the day. Time for a group photo. As an exception, I joined the group, all because of our little friend Basu. See how he's holding a corn cob in his little hand, probably that's his lunch or afternoon snack.

Basu and I with the last tomb of the day. When I lifted Basu, I hardly felt this mass, feather light guy.

We thanked our friends for showing us the tombs patiently. We said bye to Ravi & Basu. As we drove towards Konnur - Gokak waterfall road, Shivu pointed towards another tomb in a sugarcane field. That tombs has been converted into a Devi shrine. That shrine is visited by people and rituals are performed regularly. We decided to skip that tomb, may be next time. We dropped off Shivu at the main road and headed towards Dharwad via Gokak waterfall. As I was thinking about these tombs, I felt the tomb building technology gradually evolved into temple building technology. What do you think.

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