Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/16

8 —Any stone structure found under the present surface of the soil in barrows, tumuli, or circles.

—Standing monoliths whether plain or ornamented.

All the above different kinds of remains are to be found in the Hassan district.

.—I have as yet only come across four: two close together, about 4 miles from Polliam on the Bangalor-Mangalor road; two near Arsikerri in the Harnhalli taluka. I have not had time to examine them thoroughly, but sufficiently so to justify my saying they are bonâ fide mounds of made earth, the work of men's hands. A peculiarity with regard to those now under notice is that we have two barrows close together, not three yards apart, and where one is round the other long. The proximity of the one to the other, and there being no others in the immediate neighbourhood, would justify our thinking them both the work of the same race.

The barrows near Polliam were, it is said, made in order that a Polygar, who belonged to the left hand caste, might from the top make his daily salâm to the Râja who lived close by. Near those at Arsikerri is a menhir where, according to the natives of the place, the Polygar's elephant was tied while he and the principal persons of his Court from the top of the barrows watched the public games held in the fields around.

—Throughout the district, no matter how mean its appearance or few its inhabitants, every village has its temple or temples sacred to the "village" god or, more correctly, goddess. None of these temples are large, and many are rude attempts at copies of the temples dedicated to Śiva, showing clearly that Brahmanical influence has been at work in that particular village. Still, however strong this influence may be, close to the more modern village temple is always found its prototype, the dolmen, under the protecting Blab of which the rude stone representing the goddess Mariamma finds shelter. These dolmens are formed of three side slabs with one or two slabs for a top. One side is always open, and there appears to he no particular direction for this opening since in different dolmens it faces all the points of the compass. Very few of these true village temples exceed three feet in height; some are only one foot. The best specimens, as is to be expected, are to be found in out-of-the-way villages. The pujâri or priest is of the low Holyar caste, and on the annual day of worship he has the right of presenting his offering of fruit and flowers before every one in the village—taking precedence even of the Brahmans. The right to the "pujâriship" is jealously asserted and often gives rise to disputes among relatives. I have seldom seen a village temple without the tree known in Canarese as "Kanigalu" growing close by. This tree has a large white flower with yellowish centre, the leaves do not come forth until after the tree has flowered. The flowers which have a strong scent are sacred to the village deities alone, and are never to be seen adorning the altars of the more orthodox Brahmanical gods. The very small size of these dolmens which are used as temples is a peculiarity it is difficult to account for.

—There is a fine specimen of this class close to the ford over the Kâveri near Gunni on the Chenraipatam-Nursipur road. From its size, the trouble expended on its construction, and its position it is evidently the last resting-place of some chief who fell in defending or forcing the passage over the ford. He was not the only one over whose remains a mound was erected: close by are smaller mounds sacred to the memory of minor chiefs whose names and deeds are buried in the long forgotten past. The large tumulus is surrounded by three circles of upright stones. One round the bottom; the other two, about four feet apart, are half-way up the slope. The whole of the surface of the sides is covered with large pieces of white quartz. Time, and "flowers of the stone," as the natives call lichen, have dimmed the lustre with which the quartz once sparkled. But at night in its pristine state, when each facet of quartz helped to reflect the moon's pale but silvery light, the effect must have been striking, and this monument appeared worthy of him to whom it had been consecrated. The principal tumulus rises 15 feet above the crest of the ridge on which it is built. It is almost circular, and the diameter at the top about 75 feet. It is made entirely of black clay, with here and there a thin layer of sand. We dug a pit down through the centre until we came to the original surface of the ground, but found nothing, not even a kistvaen. The villagers afterwards told us that years and years ago, so their fathers had told them, this tumulus had been examined and a horn and bangle found.

—I have come across none in this district, but since the neighbouring district of