Setagarha Pahadi of Hazaribagh. Jharkhand

  Subhashis Das 

   Setagarha pahadi, perhaps the largest hill in Hazaribagh district is located about 12 kms SE of Hazaribagh town. 

 When I was a child and residing at Hazaribagh in Jharkhand the large hill in the neighbourhood of the town which is presently labelled as Sitagarh pahad was called Setagarha pahadi (a female hill; hence pahadi) and it still is amongst several old timers of the town and villages. 

The Setagarha Pahadi

  The Hill has received its name from a nearby village of the same name and is also   known with varied names as Chandwar, Zulzul as per the villages in the vicinity.  

  The Setagarha Pahadi, in the British maps is labelled as Chandwar and a Britisher has painted and sketched this hill labelling it as Mount Gloomy for reasons best known to them. Was the hill called Mt. Gloomy by them during the 19th cent? I cannot say.

                                 Setagarha pahadi sketched as Mount Gloomy by the British in 1813

The term Setagarha  has stemmed from two austric words of "Seta" which in Santali means a "wild dog" and "garha" is suggestive of a "burial" (of the dog somewhere in or in the foot of the large hill sometime in antiquity). Meaning some dog, dear to a tribal in the deep past must have been buried here. Dogs were and still are the closest friends of the tribals. The custom of burying both dogs and horses after their death was a common custom among the tribals the world over.

 

The menhir in the very ancient Birbir megalithic site is aligned towards the "V" notch of the Setagarha Pahadi

The megalithic folks in antiquity revered the hill as their pregnant Recumbent Mother Goddess form (pertaining to the once prevalent fertility cult) and they aligned several of their ancient megalithic structures towards the notches and peaks of this hill. An example of such an orientation can be viewed in the image above

A large Buddhist monastery has been unearthed at the foot of the Setagarha pahadi near Burhanpur towards the South-Eastern side of the hill by Archaeological Survey of India  revealing idols of Goddess Tara,  Avaloketiswara  and several Bhumi Sparsha Mudra idols of the Buddha etc. 

The idols of the Bhumi-Sparsha mudra Buddha, Tara etc from the Buddhist temple/monastery excavated by ASI  at Burhanpur at the foothill of Setagarha Pahadi

                         

     Excavated images of the Buddha in Bhumi Sparsha Mudra.

Excavated statue of the AVALOKITESVARA

One of the homes of Burhanpur possessed a votive stupa and a fragment of a dancing girl collected from the site prior to the excavation. Several other Buddhists idols that were housed in the homes of the villagers had their faces defaced hinting towards a foul play in the past. Scholars rummaging the hill in hope of archaeological relics are reported to have found coins belonging to the Shah Alam period.

This votive stupa was inside the home of a villager collected in-situ from the site prior to the excavation

I saw this broken relic of a possible dancing girl in the same house which was collected from the site prior to the site's excavation

Archaeological Survey of India plans to set up a site museum near the excavated monastery.

A rock shelter can be viewed at the South-East facade of the hill albeit no rock painting has been reported from here.

A rock shelter at the South Eastern facade of the Setagarha Pahadi

The hill top is reported to house a well and a pond for ritualistic worship here. A sacred grove or the "mandar" of the village comprises a sacred stone that lies towards the South east of the hill  (Image below).

A sacred stone inside a sacred grove lies towards the South East of the Setagraha pahadi

SACRED GROVES OF JHARKHAND

 

A Sarna in the woods of Jharkhand. 

Sarnas in Jharkhand have predominance of Saal trees as in this grove.

Sacred groves were worshipped as one of the foremost temples of the humankind in the entire sub-continent of India along with the rest of the world in the hoary antiquity and they still are by both the tribal and the non tribal communities. Across the Indian landscape these groves are known with different names as in Ajmer they are known as Kenkri where as in other parts of Rajasthan they are called Vani. In Kerala the sacred groves are known as Kavu and in  Meghalaya they are called Lyndoh.

Both the tribals and non tribals of rural Jharkhand still worship in water holes known as chuiyan, caves called kho, megaliths locally known as sasandiri, birdiri, haragarhi. jaangraha or jaanbagha et al and also in sacred groves known differently with different names as Sarna, Madar or Mandar, Gamhel or Majhi Than in different regions of the state. 

These sacred groves of Jharkhand may not be as large as the ones in the North-East or in Kerala but they can be spotted any where in the state. Surprisingly many of these grove temples as in the district of Chatra house megalithic burials as well.

The different names of these groves are because they are worshipped by different communities of tribals or even non-tribals and these groves house different deities but indubitably these groves in Jharkhand are indeed female/Mother principles.

SARNA

Sarna is a cluster of trees where the adivasis would worship in various occasions. Such a grove among many others must house atleast five saal (shorea robusta) trees also known as sorjum, held very sacred by the tribals.

Many anthropologists believe that the Mundas arrived in Jharkhand first (this claim is ofcourse shunned by the austric Asurs who believe that they had arrived in Jharkhand prior to the Mundas) claiming their khunkatti. The Mundas cleared the woods and left a cluster of the primitive forest as a memory and began worshipping it as their Sarna.

A Sarna in Gurua

The origin of the word Sarna lies in mystery, but the noted scholar on tribal matters,the late D.B.Kisku of Dumka who has authored more than five books on the Santals and is also an authority on tribals' history believes that  the adivasis had migrated from Sumeria/Chaldea where among many other goddesses they also worshipped  Goddess Anna or Anu. 

Arriving in India thousands of years ago they carried Goddess Anna too with them along with other deities who they later 'placed' within their Sarnas. Sarna therefore can be understood to have stemmed form the confluence of two words Sar or the Sal trees and Anna or the goddess Anna. 

                     

                                                 A Sarna in Banjha

Sarna therefore can be regarded as the sacred grove of Sar(sal) trees where the Goddess Anna resides. It is true that the Sarna is a female principle.

Sacred groves are worshipped by the tribals in different parts of India and are known with various names . In the Santal Parganas the Santals regard their grove as Jaher Than where the Santal deity Jaher Era or Goddess Jaher resides. In Jaisalmer these Sarnas are called Oraan. 


Sarnas in Jharkhand are the new target of destruction resulting from mining and other destructive activities on going in Jharkhand and in many other states as no one has respect for the tribal way of life, their temples and heritages.
The priests of Sarnas or Jaher Thans called Pahans, Naike, or Mati etc respectively  are usually tribals as Mundas, Ganju, Asur, Pahadiya or Santals in origin. Worship in a Sarna is conducted primarily during the Sarhul festival of the tribals and even during the Asadiya puja during the Asad months in June apart from other rituals.

MADAR or MANDAR 

Mandars have the dominance of Banyan and Peepal trees.

The non-tribal Hindus also worship in sacred groves in many villages of Jharkhand which they call Madar or Mandar. It could be that the adivasis having moved away from these villages left behind their sacred Sarnas which the Hindus later began worshipping perhaps naming them Mandar. Mandar may be a mutilated form of the Sanskrit term Mandir or temple.

A Mandar called TONGRI BABA in Nagoa. (The site positioned atop a small tongri is at the brink of complete destruction due to stone mining)

A Bankura Horse shaped tree near the Mandar grove.

The sacred temple of quartz stones. Sitting on the cemented platform is the pahan of the alternative open air temple situated within the Mandar grove.

Below. 

Another sacred Mandar grove

 A child pahan (priest) of the Bhuiyan tribe conducting the gachatti rites in the Tuti Mandar by sacrificing a hen after feeding him rice and local hooch (in the bottle).

                                  A non tribal Mandar grove in Banadag 

It however may not be true that Sarnas and Madars or Mandars are same. My study shows that these sacred groves were raised by different set of people; as Sarnas have a dominance of Saal trees the Mandar however has prominence of Peepal or Banyan type Hindu trees and these have hardly and tribal Saal.
The priests of Mandars are Ganjus, Bhuiyans etc. The Asadiya Puja too is conducted during months of June and even personal gachatti rituals are conducted in regular manner.


GAMHEL

A GAMHEL IN OBRA.
Gamhels like Mandars comprise non-tribal trees as Peepal, Banyan and Simul etc trees.

A Gamhel in Rola.

Gamhels are sacred groves typical to Chatra and are non tribal in origin. Nothing could be deciphered in regards to the etymology of the term Gamhel.  In such groves there are predominance of Hindu trees as Peepal and banyan etc. What difference is there between the Gamhel and Mandar groves is still not established. The priests of Mandars are Ganjus, Bhuiyans etc. Much in the fashion of ritualistic oblations in a Mandar, the Asadiya Puja too is conducted during months of June and even personal gachatti rituals are conducted in regular manner in such Gamhels.

AILWARE & CHUTO KURIA

Both the Ailwares and Chuto Kurias are sacred groves of the Mal and the Kumarbhag Pahadiyas in the Godda sub-division of the Santal Parganas. The nature of worship in such groves are more or less similar to the rituals conducted by the pahans or the naikes in other sacred groves of the state i.e. sacrifice of cock etc.

JAHER THAN

                                                                                        Jaher Than

JaherThans are temple groves of the Santal tribe. In Purulia and Santhal Parganas these groves are found in profusion as the Santals had arrived here about a few hundred of years ago from Hazaribagh. JaherThans can also be spotted in Hazaribagh and Giridh district; an evidence of their stay here prior to their migration to Saatbhum or Purulia and subsequently to the Santal Parganas. However there are plenty of Santal villages yet in and around Hazaribagh and Giridih along with their sacred groves; the Jaher Than. 

 .Much similar to the Mundari and Oraon Sarna a Santali Jaher Than too would comprise of at-least five saal (shorea robusta) trees. 

According to the noted Santal researcher the late D.B.Kisku of Dumka the term Jaher Than is derived from the confluence two austric words Jaher and Than. 
His research has shown that Jaher Than is the abode of Jaher Era. Jaher being the deity while Era in Santali means Goddess. Than suggests place. Jaher Era therefore means the than or the abode of Goddess Era.

MEGALITHIC BURIALS IN GROVES

This megalithic site is housed within a Mandar. The site is called Purni Mandar.

This  Sarna in Banjha comprise of a large megalithic burial within itself.

I have sighted megalithic burials both in Sarnas and Mandars and am yet to see one within a Gamhel. That  I have not perceived a megalithic site in such a grove would not mean that a Gamhel does not hold megalithic burials but only that I have not sighted one..

Megalithic burial sites within a Sarna: Banjha, Rohmar etc
Megalithic burial sites within a Mandar: Purni Mandar, Hurnali etc.

Megaliths of Jharkhand: Destruction of the Megalithic Complex of Chano

Subhashis Das

Cited from my following books :

1. UNKNOWN CIVILIZATION OF PREHISTORIC INDIA: Kaveri Books. New Delhi.

2. THE ARCHAEOASTRONOMY OF A FEW MEGALITHIC SITES OF JHARKAHND. Niyogi Books. New Delhi.

3. LOST HERITAGE OF JHARKHAND INCLUDING MEGALITHS (Colours of Jharkhand). Outlook. Traveller Getaways. New Delhi.

The now demolished tiny yet the most significant megalithic complex of Chano

In this blog page I mention one major megalithic complex of Chano in the state of Jharkhand in East India which I had discovered over 2 decades ago. These stunning megaliths apart from being burials of the dead were created by using using basic geometry and astronomy.

Chano was a very small and insignificant looking megalithic complex. A few slim recumbent stones suggested that they were used as burial covers which differed from the sasandiri type burials of the proto austroloid Mundas, Asurs and other tribes.

The walls of a large dug out from which the villagers collected mud for their use revealed fragments of pottery and microliths. I had collected a few broken Black on Red Ware pottery and even a section of a bone flute apart from iron arrowheads, few iron implements and large amount of iron slags. 
Chano also comprised of a phallus stone. 

The site interestingly had three triangular stones of which two smaller ones were accurately positioned towards the sunrises and sets of the Summer and the Winter Solstices. 

This image shows the accurate positioning of the stones within the complex

We gather to witness the Winter Solstice Sunrise at the now demolished Chano megaliths where the small stone triangle A points towards it.

I am not citing more about the mathematics and alignments of the site in here as for that you need to read my above mentioned books, particularly THE ARCHAEOASTRONOMY OF A FEW MEGALITHIC SITES OF JHARKHAND which can be procured from major book stalls or online from Flipkart or Amazon etc.

 Today this major site exists no more as the land mafia has felled and towed with them the prehistoric stones demolishing this major heritage of our country, forever. 
   

PHOTOGRAPHIC TOUR OF MUSSOORIE

 I have seen that most of the hill stations in India are known as the Queen of the Hills, but Mussoorie indeed is a queen among all the hill stations in India. 

Here below I present a small photographic display of the wealth of the beauty of Mussoorie.

A few landmarks of the hill town:

The famed library of Mussoorie town that was established by the British in 1843

The Mall

The renowned Cambridge Book Store made famous by the presence of Ruskin Bond here on every saturday.

The well-known cycle rickshaws of Mussoorie.

The celebrated British benches at The Mall

The spectacular Kempty waterfalls

...but the real beauty of  Mussoories lies in her outskirts..

Wandering amidst the tall deodars, oaks and pines and listening to the constant buzz of the cicadas, the call of numerous birds and the murmur of some flowing stream somewhere in the woods...

Budding wild flowers inside the Mussorie Wild Sanctuary that draws hundreds of bees towards these. 

Sipping a hot cuppa tea and listening to the silence and the language of the woods.

A jungle stream that runs through the unknown hedges and shrubs, the deodars and the oaks oozing musical chimes.

Were Viracocha of the pre Inca and Incas and Viracol/Virakhod of India, same?

 Subhashis Das

Left: Viracocha of Peru on a standing stone (credit: Pinterest). Right: a standing stone (menhir) called Viracol/Birakhod/Birdiri in India. 

Could Viracocha of the Incas in South America and Viracol (Virakol)/Birakol or Viracod/Birakhod of India represented as menhirs be of same origin?

Viracocha, also called Weiraquocha etc was a pre-Incan God who was later absorbed into the Inca fold. Inca beliefs confirm that Viracocha made the earth and the sky and it was he who taught them the various facets of civilization and culture.
He is also represented in the bearded form on tall standing stones known as menhirs which are sacred to the Incas. 

Strangely the tall standing stones (menhirs) are called with names close to Viracocha as Viracol (Virakohl)/Birakhol, Virakallu/Birakallu, Birdiri and Virakhod/Birakhod by both the megalithic tribals and the non-tribals in large parts of India.

 Megalithism is a cultural and a civilizational phenomenon that once flourished during times of prehistory all over the globe and which still does in India of which menhir is an accessory. Megaliths were known with different names all over the globe.

 We however have no evidence to suggest that Viracol (Virakol) was a God of the megalithic tribals in India; nonetheless etymologically Viracocha and Viracol (Virakol) are dissimilar.
 However the near similar pronunciation of the words and they being represented as/on menhirs and they being sacred to both the Incas and Indian tribals does put forth several questions;  could Viracocha and Viracol (Virakol) despite being separated by thousands of miles and being of near identical articulation be the same or of  the same origin?

Cart Ruts of India

 Subhashis Das

    India has numerous cart ruts. This blog-page cites only a few of the large treasure of these ruts in the country.

     Rajgir has only one pair of chariot/cart ruts or incised parallel grooves on the bed rock (refer to the plates below). 

  How these ruts have formed is not known but Archaeological Survey of India has put up a board (refer to the pic below) that does NOT speak much about the ruts; indication that these people have clearly avoided the mystery of the tracks. 

   However as the legend goes they have associated the ruts with Krishna and the Mahabharata. 

   Just beside the cart rut in Rajgir embossed on a horizontal slab of rock are the undecipherable Sankh Lipi (Conch script).(Image below)

                 The sankh Lipi (the Conch Script) beside the cart rut in Rajgir.

                                 Board of ASI in Rajgir

   Cart ruts have been found all over the world as in Malta, Portugal and Rome etc. They have also been found in various places across India as in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (refer to the pics below) other than Rajgir.

Bidar. Karnataka

Mahabalipuram. Tamil Nadu

Mahabalipuram. Tamil Nadu

   

These ruts have been discovered in Jharkhand

Credit: Lalit Vijay 

   Lalit Vijay has discovered a pair of something that can perhaps be called smaller sized cart ruts on a boulder  at the origin of the Damodar River at Chulha Pani in Jharkhand. 

Can these chiselled marks be called ruts, well they do appear to be so.

    It is difficult to say whether these ruts across the world and India are geological formations or they were created by prehistoric humans. If these parallel track marks were man made then how were these made and why?