134 rart II ~ Investi^gitions Recorded In his mode of work and in his general approach the archaeologist resembles in several significant respects the detective.Like the disciples oi bherlock iiolmes.he seeks to recover the activities of men in past time from clues which compensate for their in-r complete and often vestigial character by abundance and diversity..,.. The coirect interpretation of the data wrung by scientific means from material that may at first sight appear uncompromising still depends on the genius, perspicacity and breadth of sympathy of the investigator, but the range of information on which his conclusions are based will be limited by the technical means at his disposal. ........... Modern archaeologists have taken on something of the questing spirit of science: they no longer dig merely to accumulate data but to solve problems. Grahame Clark in his Foreword to ’Science in archaeology’ ed. by Don Brothwell and brie higgs. »jWgSTTGPrriOh!S R grOR H Pn ' : “•». / KlzANO«*t.* *KANTV4AUjOOR. ’"SS u a k v j u a W i ) d u k w \»DUKtcO KOTTA-'^'^^ \ ALLEFPEy'"-' ;,B4THANAN\THnTA O.VJW-OM t r w a n o r u m L^^ie. Umg c^M HAP-7 135 CHAPTER III INVESTIGATIONS RECORDED It has been recorded that the marvel of Kerala is that in spite of the heavy pressure on land, the virginal beauty of Nature is preserved almost in tact in the mist covered hills, the green plains and on the golden sea- coast. Thab way Kerala is a land of breath-taking colourful contrasts. In that sense the glorious sun shine of summer and the torrential ciov’n-pour of the monsoons that occur in Kerala have a charm of their own. Earlier v-ie have referred to that this coastal area at the foot of the steeply v>/ooded Western Ghats leave the casual visitor with the impression of happy country, but in reality it has become the problem child of the Central Government. Though out of place that is the case with archaeological explorations also. The investigations recorded Uiainly deals with the rock art and engravings subsequently followed by the spread of megalithams in Kerala. The Indian cave art that may remain even today unexplored, even its existence is not well known. It is very often obser­ ve ved that the sand stone caves of Central India are found a great number of and variety of stone age paint­ ings than in any other regions of the world. But this is true throughout the length and breadth of the world. 136 Now that the cave art study in India has reached one gentury old, even the southern portion of the larger Indian sub-continent has yielded stoue age paintings. As earlier referred to tUo atudy of cave art and engravings, though not in its d e e p e s t aeaaure was undertaken even in Kerala as early as 18g6. so called strange engravings of the Edakkal Cave, Waynad has been recorded by P.Fawcett, who was the Superintendent of Police, Malabar Division in 1896 A.D. (Indian Antiquary Vol.XXX 1901). It also re­ \ \ cords the observations of R.C. Teaple (1899 A .D .) \ )• Bruice Foote (1897), Mackenf^ie and others. Fawcett \s \ has visited the site nore than once the details of which are all corroborated in the scholastic article Dentiomed above. i Quite recently during the seventies and eigh­ ties myself and my friend Dr.P.Rajendran have dis- cove2?ed Edakkal type engravings on the southern and northern suburbs of Trivandrum, the capital city at s V Perumkadavila and Tenmalay respectively. The engravings at Thenmala has yielded micro- liths too (personal communication). My research explo­ rations in the valley of Anju Nad has helped me to trace out microlithic sites at Maraiyur and Chinnar (a tribal settlm.;ent) on the banks of the Chinnar river itself, 16 kilometres away from Maraiyur Panchayat 137 Panchayat. 'Wiile tools were collected at Marayur at the basal deposits of the rock shelter itself, in the latter case they were found on a lesser elevation on the way to Chinnar-Charapakad shelters. The explora­ tions at all these 'Ur' (meaning land in vernacular) coupled with cave habitation, evidences in 'Kad' (again meaning jungle in vernacular) forms the major portion of this research study. Equally 1 have tried to include and incorporate, almost all the ne- galithic sites hitherto located by archaeologists in this part of India, Another prominent feature of the Anju Nad val­ ley is that probably this i^ the only site in South *Ir]d'’'a where we get the maximum number of megaliths in lesser floor-land areas. Further they are found in all their types as well as at all elevations. .Of- course in all d'jstribts of Kerala megalithic monu- ments have located either as cists, chambered burials, A dolmens or as urn burials. But in this tribal settle­ ment we get even menhirs. Providence as it may one menhir-like column has been converted into monolithic LC p«-' My exploration in this valley mainly centred around the study of the three prcninent cave art- rock shelters v iz, Ezhuthu Alai, the cave of writing, Atta Alai, the cave of dancing, the\i the Pulachi- 138 Kumnatti Alai (the cave of Pulaya caste granny). Investigations and study of the paintings, scenes depicted and tools -Prom the basal deposits have rightly prompted one to think, tux for the proxinity of the present habitation w'.th the descen­ dants cave-art dwellers, the entire evidence of the stone age cultures of the Ifaraiyur nan would have been available. Still surprisingly the neolithic like settlement even today are found in many parts of the Anju Nad valley. Exploration_has convinced that in the Maraiyur shelters we have got scenes of typical dom^tic life as well as social gatheririgs:, battles, hunting; horse riding etc. These typej of depictions have been found on the walls of the present day houses also. Another unique feature among the Marayurians culture is that we get dense forest growth and con­ temporary life intermitteedly. Further during the course of o ’ficial work- explorations in other parts of High Ranges it has been recorded that almost all the village-settlements have got tnegalithic monuments. In that sense the South Indian megalithism has its true champions here o ^ y . The Administration Reports of the state de­ partment have located stray sites in southern and northern districts of Kerala. Equally in a village ROCK 5HEuTERS LOCATED. 6kAHPPA<V» ;i :t<>.\bautv.m p l ^ Pula c »«a l a i' 0 #/#/ -f G // . /f ^ u ' * t // • \X ezwuTVU/si-AW V'u v ^A^DOR. A ^ /^ u a \ * A.“I 11 «• r^V^AK'YAR AUA^ I: 11 il <r *t M U^VAVA SS^U / r 11 /# 'vN git>4p^KOMiJi)R. /' V \\ * I KANTHAUL.UR ' • // KOTTAKOMBUft. 4 f // // I: .V <( ^AVifiAti^AU 5VAOLA 11 !, NS \ % y \\ StTV)Uf>A'?^VAtmPU<?AM /✓ if rc ^ u H y\AY> •/u.^ j^rocW ahfelb^r (.^uha 1ft MaUyularr^ /^ N t T D W A D V a U-B'^ m fllii 139 to village survey of antiquities by ne when I was Excavation Assistant of the State Departnent I could locate megalithic evidencf-a. During- thiat period the revenue officials of the Kottayam-I^ukki districts have given me even the iron-slag pieces, which indi­ cates the presence of crude iron-smelting process by hired labourers or skilled blacksmiths. This type of iron-smelting is reported in Assam-Nagaland region too (N.SEN). Is already referred to the Maraiyur explora­ tion for this research was also due to the historic background of this peculiar funnel shaped valley viz. the valley of Anju Nad ( For supplying this informa­ tion I am greatly indebted to Shri.K. Maheswaran Nair, the present Director of Archaeology, Government of Kerala). The fertile tract of land known by the name Nanchinad is generally as comprising of the major |)ortions of the present Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu. A good number of records speak of Nanchinad as consisting of 12 'Pidakai' extending from Mangalam to Manakkudi, areas in and around Cape Comorin, in­ cluding the famous Suchindraa. In the Sangom period the Nanchil country was ruled by a clan of the Valluva order and Nanchil Poranan is praised in the Purananooru in the high land torn verses by a number of poets. The glorious country of the Nanchil Valluvaras is said •> 40 to b« of two principal divisiDns according to tradi­ tion. Th«y are ^Nanchinadu Thenvakai' or Nanchinad SM th and Hanchinadu Vadavakai or Nanchinadu North. Naturally the An^u Nad valley in the High Ranges is generallj taken to he the sane as Nanchinadu Vada- vakal, Tradition has it that the last of the Nanchil Kurava Qhieftains fled from Alagiyapandiapuram on agco^int of the cfefeat he sustained in the hands of hJLe enemies and retired to Nanchinadu Vadavakai. further the Kurava chief took with him the image of the Then-Nanchillingar and consecrated it at Maraiyur in the Anju Nad valley. Tradition does not preserve anything more about the Nancliil Kurava and his after days. Curiously enough the Thenkasinatha Temple at Maraiyur is dedicated to Siva and the deity is called 'Thfnnanehil lingar' ie. Siva of the Southern Nanchi- nad. Equally there is a temple of Then Nanchil be Lingar at Puthugranam and it could_/seen there even now gust as in the case of Maraiyur. There is socte connection between the two Siva temples of Haraiyur and Puthugraaan of South Travancore as is inferre4 from four inscriptions found at Puthugramam., If epi- graphical data is to be taken into consideration the Tamil insgriptioR engraved on the rock to the north of the Siva temple at Marai3rur characterises the deity aa Thiruna«hiappar ie, the lord of Nanchinad.