Large stones with intricate motifs engraved on them dot the beautiful landscapes of interior Bastar of Chhattisgarh. Called megaliths in archaeological terminology — the art of erecting stone pillars in memory of the dead by the local aborigines — dates back to Stone Age. The Stone Age burial practice, however, has however disappeared in Europe, Latin America and many parts of Asia. But, the “grave art” continues to flourish in tribal pockets of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region.
Adivasis converging at the village burial ground, performing cremation or burial rituals for the dead clan member amidst recital of “hanal pata” (burial song in tribal Gondi dialect), beating of drums in a melancholic rhythm, and then raising memorials to “preserve the soul of the dead” is still a common sight in remote tribal areas of Bastar.
The architectural designs of the memorial structures found in different places in Bastar are as varied from each other as is possible. As the Stone Age legacy, dating back to the Iron Age in India, passed on to the successive generations, the Bastar tribals have continued the tradition.
The megaliths are broadly classified into four categories — Menhir, Cist, Cairn Circle, and Cap Stone. In Bastar, basically menhir type (large standing stones) of megaliths are noticed.
“I have surveyed extensively and found more than 100 megalithic sites in Bastar region— from Antagarh to Narayanpur, from Narayanpur to Kondagaon, from Jagdalpur to Bijapur, from Jagdalpur to Bailadila and from Dantewada to Sukma,” said Niranjan Mahawar, eminent ethnologist and president of Chhattisgarh art foundation.
Currently three tribe groups — Marias, Dorlas and Murias — practice the megalithic culture. Earlier, Gond tribals of Kanker in Bastar also observed this tradition, but they discontinued it since long.
“Megalithic culture survives today only in Bastar and its adjoining areas in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The tradition also continues in very few pockets of northeastern states of India, but not as profusely as seen in Bastar. In the rest of the world, megalithic culture has become extinct,” said archaeologist Atul Kumar Pradhan.
The tradition, according to anthropologists, has come to Bastar from the Indonesian archipelago and to the northeastern region of India and Orissa through Burma.
“Bastar is almost insulated from the rest of the world in the ancient and medieval periods for various reasons. This has helped the local tribes preserve their culture and in the process, saved megalithic culture from total extinction,” explains Mr Mahawar.
Stone slabs used for building the tombs are engraved with what is the depiction of the culture of the clan to which the dead belonged, along with the deceased’s own life and achievements. Figurines of animals, birds, men and women are also found in the engravings. The motifs also illustrate the dead person reaching heaven riding on an elephant.
The articles used by the deceased are also buried under the memorial along with an iron ring, in which the local priest “entraps” the departed person’s soul by performing some complex rituals.
The rituals associated with the burial ceremony are very expensive, as it involves a feast for the clan members and even slaughtering a cow. However, in many cases, tribals, who cannot afford the practice, are forced to postpone it to a later period.
“I came across a case in which some families built the megaliths for their ancestors 30 years after their deaths. In Binzli village in Narayanpur district in south Bastar, eight families had migrated to Maharashtra in the 70s. Their clan members returned to the village in 2001 to establish the megaliths for their ancestors,” Mr Mahawar said.
Interestingly, of late, megalithic culture in Bastar has witnessed an evolution. It is being observed that tribals have started using wooden pillars in place of stone slabs to build memorials at some places. Such megaliths have been discovered in Jagdalpur in Bastar district recently. Huge tree trunks cut in a definite shape are used for the purpose.
Stones are scarce in some areas, but wood is found in abundance in the forested Bastar region, thus prompting the shift in tradition while mainiting the sanctity of the idea.
However, only affluent families can afford to build the wooden megaliths as of now. In another recent development, it was found that some tribal groups are using slated stones, available in their localities, to erect megaliths.
Every clan has artists, who specialise in the art of engraving, but keeping in line with the times, lately artists have also started using oil paints to draw motifs in megaliths made of slated stones. Two such grave painters, who attended an art camp organised by the Chhattisgarh Art Foundation at Jagdalpur recently, brought to light the undergoing evolution of Bastar’s megalithic culture.
The artists revealed the elephants, depicted in the motifs as the mode of transportation to carry the dead to heaven, has been replaced by cars and aeroplanes, indicating the growing influence of modernity on Bastar’s megalithic culture.