Wow - I don't know why I didn't ever read before about menhirs in India! I had no idea there were any there. I've always thought of menhirs as Celtic -- in France, England, Wales and Scotland. Guess now they're Indo-European...

Article at The Indian Express

Field of menhirs promises to shed new light on history of Mizos

Written by Adam Halliday | Aizawl | March 26, 2014 10:30 pm

Mizoram has made an entry into India’s archaeological map. In a first, the Ministry of Culture has declared a 9,000 sq m area dotted with several caves, and more than a hundred menhirs embossed with figures of humans, animals and weapons as an ancient site of national importance.

Some 170 menhirs, each at least as tall as a man, stand at the site at Champhai district’s Vangchhia village, which lies on the bank of the Tiau river that separates India and Myanmar.

Villagers call the site “Kawtchhuah Ropui” (The Great Gateway) and have protected these monuments for years in spite of not being sure what they represent or how they came to be there.

The Mizoram chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) along with the state’s Art & Culture Separtment has been studying the menhirs, seeking help from the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) in interpreting the embossing.

There has been no significant breakthrough yet, either in reading the carvings or in understanding why the menhirs are there.

The ministry’s notification declares the menhirs, as well as the ground on which they stand, the surrounding caves and forest as protected.

INTACH is hopeful that studies on the menhirs and the figures on them will shed more light on the history of the Mizos, much of which was never documented. The community followed an unwritten, oral tradition until a script was developed a little over a century ago.

Menhirs with similar images have also been found in parts of eastern Mizoram including at Chawngtlai village near Khawzawl town and, according to Mizo historian B Lalthangliana, in the Chin Hills of Myanmar.

**********************************************************

Where the heck is Mizoram? A quick Google search -- I had no idea that India had those northeastern provinces. It's like that area was tacked on to the country as an afterthought.

Story from the Hindu.com:

Megalith menhir with rock engravings found
P. Samuel Jonathan
May 9, 2010

GUNTUR: A megalith menhir with rock engravings, called petroglyphs, carved on it has been discovered on an open field on the left bank of Nagaleuru, a tributary of the Krishna at Karampudi, 100 km from Guntur.

The menhir is a significant remnant of the pre-historic megalithic civilisation, when humans used signs to communicate, and dates back to 1000 B.C-300 B.C. Menhirs throw light on socio-ritualistic and ancestral beliefs. Archaeological evidence indicates they were also used as places of worship. (Image: T. Vijaya Kumar)

A freelance archaeologist, K. Venkateshwara Rao, based at Tenali, discovered the menhir on a vast stretch of open field, which is believed to be a necropolis (cemetery), adjacent to the Karampudi-Dachepalli Road.

The necropolis was first discovered during 1870-71 by J.S. Boswell, Collector, Krishna, himself a keen archaeologist.

The lone and imposing Menhir, a standing stone erected in memory of the dead ones, measures 19.2 inches in height, 4.2 inches in width and is 7 inches thick.

‘Rare discovery'

Mr. Rao, who traced the Menhir after years of research, calls it a “rare and unusual discovery and probably the first-of-its kind in the country.”

While menhirs have been found in parts of Khammam, Warangal, Madhumala in Mahaboobnagar and Medak districts in Andhra Pradesh and at Boorj Home in Jammu and Kashmir, it is the first time a menhir with petroglyphs was found.

The rock engravings are at a height of 8-9 feet from the ground. The upper row has four concentric circles with four small lines and a small pointed base. Archaeological reports point that the figures resemble the Muslim religious symbols ‘peer.' Below these circular figures, shapes of a crawling animal with an elongated head, probably that of a mongoose, a humped bull with V-shaped antlers and a peacock are found. In the last row, two men are seen carrying a pole on their shoulders and moving east (sun).

A close observation of the menhir shows that it is erected facing north-east, pointing to the fact that it could have been erected during ‘uttarayana punya kalam' considered an auspicious period.

While the circular figures in the shape of a human head on the upper row depict the ancestral and ritualistic worship of the pre-historic human race, the row below it has figures of domestic animals and show that pre-historic man co-existed with animals and also domesticated them. The engravings of a tiger show that man hunted for livelihood.

“The rare discovery is of great historical importance and could lead to further study on pre-historic civilisations in the country,'' Mr. Rao said.