Rock etchings bear the stamp of the yore

Stone engravings depicting the practices of worship and trade during the Iron Age have been found at Ariyittapara at Kayyur-Cheemeni panchayat in Kasaragod district. The engravings are more than 1,500 years old and are believed to have been carved with iron tools.

Historian Nandakumar Koroth found the engravings at the site set aside for a solar plant recently. He says traces of an ancient bullock cart track too could be found on nearby rock surfaces.

Although some of the paintings on the 60-sq-ft rock have faded, the remains of two bulls facing each other and a man with his hands raised are still clearly visible. The engravings bore testimony to the importance attached to the trade and worship of bulls by the people who lived here during the Megalithic period, Mr. Koroth said.

Similar finding

He said that at Ettukudukka, 2 km from Ariyittapara, the Archaeological Survey of India had unearthed paintings dating back to the Megalithic age some years ago. Much research had gone into the three bulls engraved on a rock there. The new etchings could connect the dots. Within a diameter of 1 kilometre there were rock-cut chambers too belonging to the Megalithic age, he said.

Rituals still on

Members of the Mavilan tribe still perform rituals annually near a Champak tree adjacent to the engravings. Perhaps, this would explain the preservation of the relics of an ancient culture for so long. The image in human form could be divine or demonic.

“A more scientific study of the rock paintings and the nearby bullock cart track can restore a forgotten period,” Mr. Koroth said.