Megaliths (महापाषाण)
English
Large stone structures, burial monuments, or memorial boulders constructed primarily during the Iron Age in southern India for mortuary rituals.
Historical background
South Indian megalithic culture is notable for developing largely independently of, and partly overlapping in time with, the Indus Valley Civilization further north and west — a reminder that 'ancient India' was never a single cultural trajectory but several distinct regional Iron Age and Chalcolithic traditions that eventually became entangled through trade and migration.
हिंदी में
मुख्यतः लौह युग में दक्षिण भारत में मृतक-संस्कार अनुष्ठानों हेतु निर्मित विशाल पाषाण संरचनाएँ, समाधि-स्मारक अथवा स्मृति-शिलाखंड।
ऐतिहासिक पृष्ठभूमि
दक्षिण भारतीय महापाषाण संस्कृति उत्तर-पश्चिम की सिंधु घाटी सभ्यता से काफ़ी हद तक स्वतंत्र रूप से विकसित हुई — यह याद दिलाता है कि 'प्राचीन भारत' कभी एक ही सांस्कृतिक धारा नहीं थी।