Tirupati district is dotted with anthropomorphic burial sites, said to be the largest as a collection in Andhra Pradesh.
Key points
- The most prominent one is the ‘pillared dolmen’ of the megalithic era, found at Mallayyagaripalle, nestling on a hillock between Chandragiri and Dornakambala, 20 km from Tirupati.
- The structure is locally referred to as ‘Pandava Gullu’ or ‘Pandavula Banda’ in memory of the Pandavas.
- It is estimated to be 2,500 years old.
- The pillared dolmen with rock art beneath the capstone at Mallayyagaripalle came under threat owing to granite mining in the vicinity.
- The site escaped damage by a whisker after local villagers, supported by anthropologists, intervened and got the mining activity stopped.
- The Mines department is said to have granted licence for mining without verifying the importance of the site.
- The Mallayyagaripalle structure is a cist burial chamber. Such chambers are built by arranging slabs neatly broken from huge stones at a time when there were no proper tools.
(Source: The Hindu)
