OlivaWilhite3 at 03:50, 1 June 2025

2025-06-01T03:50:42Z

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{{Short description|Megalithic necropolis}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Hirebeṇakal
| native_name = ಹಿರೇಬೆಣಕಲ್ಲು (Hirebenakallu)
| native_name_lang = kn
| other_name = Hirebeṇakal
| nickname =
| settlement_type =
| image_skyline = Pre-historic tombs-1.JPG
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Pre-historic site at Hirebeṇakal
| pushpin_map = India Karnataka
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Karnataka, India
| coordinates = {{coord|15|26|16.12|N|76|27|21.61|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Karnataka]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Koppal District|Koppal]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m =
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Kannada]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = 
| postal_code =
| registration_plate = KA-37
| blank1_name_sec1 = Nearest city
| blank1_info_sec1 = Gangavati
| website =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Hirebenakal''' or '''Hirébeṇakal''' or '''Hirébeṇakallu''' ('''ಹಿರೇಬೆಣಕಲ್ಲು''' in [[Kannada]]) is a [[megalithic]] site in the state of [[Karnataka]], [[India]]. It is among the few megalithic sites in India that can be dated to the 800 BCE to 200 BCE period. The site is located in the [[Koppal district]], some {{Convert|10|km}} west of the town of [[Gangavati]] and some {{Convert|35|km}} from [[Hospet]] city. It contains roughly 400 megalithic funerary monuments, that have been dated to the transition period between [[Neolithic]] period and the [[Iron Age]]. Known locally (in the [[Kannada language]]) as ''eḷu guḍḍagaḷu'' (or 'the seven hills')'','' their specific name is ''moryar guḍḍa'' (or 'the hill of the moryas"). Hirebenakal is reported to be the largest [[necropolis]] among the 2000 odd megalithic sites found in South India, most of them in the state of Karnataka.<ref name="megalithic" /> Since 1955, it has been under the management of the [[Dharwad district|Dharwad]] circle of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI).<ref name="Sivanandan2011">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/25/stories/2011012561850500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130194102/http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/25/stories/2011012561850500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 January 2011|title=This megalithic settlement near Hire Benakal in Koppal district remains hidden away|date=25 January 2011|access-date=5 February 2013|first=T.V. |newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|last=Sivanandan }}</ref><ref name="Deccan">{{cite news|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/98072/portals-ancient-way-life.html|title=Portals to an ancient way of life| date=20 September 2012| newspaper=Deccan Herald|access-date=5 February 2013|first=Meera |last=Iyer}}</ref> On May 19, 2021, it was proposed that Hirebenakal be made a [[UNESCO]] [[List of World Heritage Sites in India|World Heritage Site]].<ref name="megalithic">{{Cite web|url=https://www.earthismysterious.com/2800-years-old-megalithic-site-of-hire-benkal|title=2800 Years Old Megalithic Site Of Hire benkal|language=English|access-date=6 May 2020|publisher= Earth is Mysterious}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Pre-historic tombs.JPG|left|thumb|Prehistoric site]]
The funerary monuments are located on a rocky range of seven hills. The site lies to the left of the [[Tungabhadra River]]. Covered with thorny bushes and slippery scattered boulders, the climb to the site is relatively easy and well marked.<ref name="Sivanandan2011" /><ref name=Deccan/> A perennial source of water has been found in the form of a lake and an old [[quarry]] site discovered nearby has been postulated to be the source for the materials used to build the Hirebenakal monuments.<ref name=Deccan/> Hirebenakal village can be reached, via the state highway, from the towns of [[Gangavathi]], [[Hospet]] and [[Koppal]]. The nearest railway station to the site is Gangavathi.<ref name="Sivanandan2011" />

==History==
This site was built more than 2000 years ago, with many of its megalithic structures dated to between 800 BCE and 200 BCE.<ref name="Sivanandan2011" /><ref name=Deccan/> The Iron Age is estimated to have spanned more than 1000 years (from 1200 BCE to 200 CE) in this portion of India.<ref name=Deccan/> The port-holed chamber in the western group of the Hirebenakal area has been compared to similar finds at Rajankolur.<ref name="The Karnatak Historical Review">{{cite book|title=The Karnatak Historical Review|volume=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TT1uAAAAMAAJ|access-date=3 January 2013|year=1987|author=Karnatak Historical Research Society|publisher=Dharwad}}</ref>

The first published reports on Hirebenakal were those in the ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' in 1835, by [[Philip Meadows Taylor]], who was under the service of the [[Nizam of Hyderabad]].<ref name="megalithic" /> For over a century afterwards, no further systematic study of the site was conducted. Between 1944 and 1948, Sir [[Mortimer Wheeler]] undertook archaeological excavations; these were supplemented by Adiga Sundara and were published in 1975.<ref name=megalithic/> In his publication, "The Early Chamber Tombs of South India: A Study of the Iron Age Megalithic Monuments of North Karnataka", Sundara's cataloguing describes details of 300 megalithic burial chambers at a site which was surrounded by thick forest.<ref name=megalithic/> Andrew Bauer of the Department of Anthropology at [[Stanford University]] has carried out investigations in recent years and identified about 1000 different types of antiquaries within an area of about {{Convert|20|ha}}. His findings describe anthropomorphic funerary structures, [[menhirs]], and circle-shaped stone fences. Bauer states in his writings that the [[dolmen]]s supported by stone slabs appear to have been erected perfectly, without any joining mortar.<ref name=megalithic/>

==Description==
[[File:Pre-historic tombs-2.JPG|right|thumb|Boulder supported dolmen chambers]]
The setting for the approximately 400 megalithic monuments is like that of a ghost town.<ref name=Deccan/> Their structures are varied in shape and size. There are clusters of [[dolmens]], three-sided chambers with capstones forming the roof.<ref name=Deccan/> The small dolmens are {{Convert|50|-|100|cm}} while the larger ones measure up to {{Convert|3|m}} height. The buried and semi-buried dolmens are categorized as [[cists]] and dolmenoid cists, and are arranged in circular layouts. Most of them have now collapsed.<ref name="Sivanandan2011" /> The dolmens with round [[porthole]]s give the appearance of dwellings with windows, but they are, in fact, funerary structures. These dolmens flank both sides of what was once the main street. Pit circles and oblong chambers covered with gable stone-roofs have also been found. The dolmenoid cists exist in several shapes and sizes. Those of an oblong shape have been understood to have been built by packing rubble stones at ground level. A circular enclosure has been noted. Around these structures is a pit filled with layers of earth.<ref name=Deccan/><ref name="Studies1979">{{cite book|author=Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies|title=Essays in Indian protohistory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KwJuAAAAMAAJ|access-date=3 January 2013|year=1979|publisher=Published on behalf of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies [by] B.R. Pub. Corp.|isbn=978-0391018662}}</ref> Inside the rock shelters, there are paintings of people dancing, hunting, and holding weapons. There are also geometric and mystical designs of deer, peacocks, antelopes, humped bulls, horses, and cows. An unusual find is a stone kettledrum on a {{Convert|10|m}} high boulder. The boulder is hemispherical in shape, with a diameter of {{Convert|2|m}} and a height of {{Convert|1.5|m}}. When struck with a wooden hammer, the boulder has been known to produce sounds that can be heard up to {{Convert|1|km}} away.<ref name="Sivanandan2011" /><ref name=Deccan/> The caves in this area were either residences or places of worship and contained cave paintings made using a [[Ochre|red ochre]] colour, a fact corroborated by the nearby funerary structures.<ref name=megalithic/>
[[File:Cave painting at hirebenakal.JPG|right|thumb|Cave painting]]

==Artifacts==
Pottery from the [[Neolithic|Neolithic period]] has been found at the site. Pre-megalithic implements, iron slag, and pottery from the Neolithic, megalithic and early historic periods have been identified. Iron implements, a common megalithic period find in South India, is also found at the Hirebenakal site.<ref name=Deccan/>

==Preservation==
Although the renovation and maintenance of the site is the responsibility of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI), hardly any activity is evident. Unfamiliar to most Indians and to most foreigners, it is estimated that only a dozen foreign tourists visit the site annually.<ref name=Deccan/> A crucial part of the site's maintenance is improving the signage at the base of the hill and near the Raichur-Koppal State Highway.<ref name=megalithic/> As it is, the dolmens have been ransacked over the centuries by thieves in search of hidden treasure. Shepherds too continue to graze their livestock at the site, resulting in the frequent collapse of the dolmens.<ref name=megalithic/>

==Culture==
The locals of the village nearest Hirebenakal believe that god himself walks from hill to hill during their annual festival. This belief precludes them from grazing their cattle there.<ref name=Deccan/>

==Other megalithic sites in Karnataka==
* [[Brahmagiri archaeological site]]
* [[Kupgal petroglyphs]]
* [[Sidlaphadi]]
* [[Khyad]]
* [[Neolithic]]
* [[Sodhe#Prehistoric rock art|Sonda]]
* [[Byse, Shimoga#History|Byse]]
* [[Anegundi]]
* [[Morera Thatte]]
* [[Sanganakallu]]
* [[South Asian Stone Age]]

==See also==
* [[Archaeology in India]]
* [[Timeline of Indian history]]
* [[List of Indus Valley Civilisation sites]]
* {{section link|List of archaeological sites by country|India}}
* {{section link|World Heritage Sites by country|India}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110130194102/http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/25/stories/2011012561850500.htm Hirebenkal]
* [http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article1122795.ece This megalithic settlement near Hirebenkal remains hidden away]

[[Category:Archaeological sites in Karnataka]]
[[Category:Megalithic monuments in India]]
[[Category:Burial monuments and structures]]
[[Category:World Heritage Tentative List for India]]

Hire Benakal - Revision history

OlivaWilhite3 at 03:50, 1 June 2025