Photo for representational purpose.
Credit: DH photo
Mysuru: An excavation will begin at a Megalithic burial site at Doddalathur, in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district on Wednesday.
According to a press note from V Shobha, associate professor at the University of Mysore (UoM), UoM Vice-Chancellor N K Lokanath will inaugurate the excavation at the Doddalathur Archaeological site at 11.30 am on October 3, in the presence of president of The Mythic Society V Nagaraj, honorary secretary S Ravi and retired Deputy Superintending Archeologist C B Patil.
Shobha said, “Doddalathur village is located in a small valley, formed by Male Mahadeshwara hill ranges. To the west of the village is a small hillock which houses a modern temple of Adi Parashakti. On the slope of this hillock and in the adjacent fields, there are hundreds of burials during ‘Megalithic’ period, which is also known as ‘Iron Age’.
The burials consist of circles made of large boulders, hence the name ‘megalithic’. In south India, this period has been broadly placed in the bracket of 1200 BCE to 300 CE”.
She said, “Doddalathur megalithic burial site was discovered by C Krishnamurti of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1961. The site once had more than a thousand burials according to the villagers. However, many burials have vanished in the recent years, due to cultivation, settlement expansion and land development schemes. Despite such disturbances, a majority of the burials are still intact. The site is being excavated in collaboration with the Bengaluru-based Mythic Society. C B Patil, retired official of ASI, is the co-director of the excavation. The excavation hopes to throw more light on the megalithic-Iron Age culture in the hilly regions of southern Karnataka, in addition to gathering scientific dates for this period”.
“Another purpose of the excavation is to provide field training to Archaeology students. The excavation will be held for about two months. In 2021 and 2022, the department had excavated the habitation-cum-megalithic burial site of Budipadaga, which is about 20 km southwest of Doddalathur,” Shobha said.