Monday, June 13, 2016

Ariyannur Umbrellas - Kudai Kallu

#ashokasays Did you know 246:

Kuda Kallu..

Ariyannur Umbrellas are a set of six stone umbrellas or mushroom stones referred commonly Kudaikkallu, which are recognized as centrally protected ancient monument. The Archaeological Survey of India have declared this place as such in 1951 because these umbrellas are in the Megalith burial site which belongs to prehistoric period. There are four umbrellas out of six, now remaining in proper shape, while the other two are partly in broken condition.
Ariyannur located at Kandinissery at Trissur reachable in 30 km from the main Trissur town, where there is also a Vishnu temple which is famous for its sculptures at the entrance part.
The ASI excavations have revealed at Ariyannur two urns, small and big, the bigger one having ring chain decorations and symmetrical ends.
Umbrella Stones are used for secondary burials as they do with Menhirs (standing stones), which serve many purposes, those days which were used for making statues or sculptures. Secondary burials in such cases are done in earthen pots in which human remains are placed with some more pottery, beads or iron objects connected with the life of the person who departed. Tribal funeral rituals prescribe such kind of burials.
This type of burial is mostly found particularly in Ariyannur and Cheramangadu, in Thrissur district of Kerala.
These Six Umbrella stones are constructed in curvilinear laterite stone material, positioned in a wide circular flat base and they rest on four clinostats. Each one of the clinostats is bevelled on the outside facing a cardinal direction. The look of these umbrella stones resemble an oversized mushroom plant lopping its stem of truncated parabolic figure. This location would give an impression that the stone structures were erected over an urn burial.
These stones are constructed in such a way that all touch each side by side, coming out of the ground forming a hollow cone with the tip chopped out. Upon the perfectly balanced top thus made a large dome shaped stone is placed that looks like one third part of stone ball. These umbrella tops are anywhere between 5 and 12 feet in diameter, the whole unit standing at a height anywhere from 4 to 9 feet. At the bottom portion of the umbrellas, the clay pots containing the burial matter with its associated objects are placed.

INCREDIBLE BHARATHA 


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