Stonehenge is a world renowned site. Recently I came across one interesting piece of news that India has discovered its own version of the Stonehenge.
The news is as follow :-
The news is as follow :-
Hindustan
Times
Mumbai,
March 15, 2012
India may
have its own version of Stonehenge, England’s prehistoric monument with
astronomical associations, in Karnataka. Researchers from the Mumbai-based Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Manipal University have discovered
26 megalithic constructions at Byse near Hosnagara , 140 km from Mangalore, which were probably
used as an astronomical observatory by its inhabitants.
The
three-member team has claimed that the menhirs or stones, dating prior to
1000BC, are the first strong evidence of a monument with intentional solar and
possible stellar alignments among Indian megaliths.
Using
computer simulations, the team found that the standing stones are aligned to
the north, east, south and west directions and also match the two solstices and
equinoxes. While the two solstices mark
the longest and shortest days of the year, an equinox occurs when the sun is in
the same plane as the earth’s equator.
“The
megaliths may have helped inhabitants know the various seasons; helping them
carry out agriculture and other trade,” said Mayank Vahia, astrophysicist,
TIFR. “The study establishes that India had a strong intellectual tradition of
precise astronomical observation not copied from any other civilisation.”
The study
‘Stone alignment with solar and other sightlines in South India’ is published
in the latest issue of Current Science, published by the Indian Academy of
Sciences based in Bangalore.
“Although
the site was discovered in 1975, we went back to literature and found that
nothing more of them was studied,” said professor Srikumar M Menon from the
Manipal School of Architecture and Planning, Manipal University.
The Place is - Near Hosnagara in the state of Karnataka , India . The place is close to the famous Indian Cities Mangalore and Bangalore
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