Dolmens, Vilpatti
Photo A.Logananth · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
What the sources say
Dolmens, Vilpatti is a dolmen in Dindigul district, India. Its entries are Wikidata item Q97481579; the position in the catalogue is 10.2837° N, 77.5303° E.
Built from structured records, not from an articleSources and licences
The full article
About Dolmens, Vilpatti
This kind of monument hereSources for this section
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
Megaliths are found in almost every part of South Asia, from the south to the north-eastern hills. Dates in the literature run from before 3000 BCE, with recent finds in southern India claimed back to 5000 BCE, and the southern megalithic cultures correspond in part with the Iron Age. A large fraction are thought to be associated with burial or post-burial rites. The forms are many: stone circles, cists, menhirs, dolmens and rock-cut chambers. Further down this page, About this kind of monument gives the whole of “Megalithic burials of India”.
Dating
This site is undated in the open records the Atlas draws on, and the Atlas does not guess a date for it. Where a regional range exists for this kind of monument it is given in the notes on this page, as background and not as a date for this site.
Landscape and neighbours
The catalogue lists 0 other sites within 1 km, 1 within 5 km and 2 within 10 km; 1 of them is also classed as dolmen. In Dindigul district, India, 2 of the 3 catalogued sites are classed as dolmen.
The nearest neighbours in the catalogue are Dolmens Near Talayar River On Top Of The Hill (3.7 km south-west, cist); Dolmens Near Machur Reserved Forest (5.3 km east, dolmen); Menhir & Habitation Site and Megalithic Burial Sites, Kodumanal (92.2 km north, megalithic complex); Dolmens and Ayyanar Images (107.7 km east, cist). The catalogue is assembled from open records and is not complete, so unrecorded monuments may lie closer.
Records and protectionSources for this section
Sources for this section
Wikidata lists the site with the heritage status Monument of National Importance. The open records for it are Wikidata (Q97481579), where corrections and further identifiers can be added. Sites of this kind often lie on farmland or other private ground, so check local access rules before visiting and leave the monument as you found it.
How this page was madeSources for this section
Sources for this section
This page was built automatically from Wikidata (CC0), the heritage register named above and the regional article “Megalithic burials of India”, written for the Atlas from the Wikipedia articles it cites (CC BY-SA 4.0), plus distances and counts computed from the catalogue coordinates. It contains no AI-written text.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Megalithic burials of India
Megaliths are found in almost every part of South Asia, from the south to the north-eastern hills. Dates in the literature run from before 3000 BCE, with recent finds in southern India claimed back to 5000 BCE, and the southern megalithic cultures correspond in part with the Iron Age. A large fraction are thought to be associated with burial or post-burial rites. The forms are many: stone circles, cists, menhirs, dolmens and rock-cut chambers.
Researchers note that giant human-shaped figures, which usually occur with megalithic monuments in burial grounds, may be connected with ancestor worship, though what they symbolise is unclear. Marks found mostly on potsherds in megalithic burials of central and south India and Sri Lanka, tentatively dated from 1000 BCE to 300 CE, are still debated: there is no consensus on whether they are undeciphered writing or graffiti.
In the east the tradition has lasted longest: the megaliths there show evidence of living megalithic practices until recently. In the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, Mawphlang ("grassy stone") is one of many settlements named after monoliths, and it is the site of a sacred grove. Visitors should respect local custom.
Dating is the weak point: few have been excavated to modern standards, and many are dated only by comparison with excavated graves.
When visiting, look for rings of stones at the edge of fields, for capstones raised on slabs, and for groups of graves on hillsides.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Megalith, Wikipedia: Iron Age in India, Wikipedia: Megalithic graffiti symbols, Wikipedia: Mawphlang · CC BY-SA 4.0
See it in 3D
An interpretive reconstruction of the monument, standing on the real ground at its exact point, under the sun for that place and season. Drag to look around it.
The reconstruction is ours, not a survey: it shows what a monument of this type looks like, at the size the record gives for this one.
Photographs
4 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Where it stands
India
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 10°17′01″ N, 77°31′49″ EFor a GPS or map app: 10.28374, 77.53032
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
- CistDolmens Near Talayar River On Top Of The Hill
Dolmens Near Machur Reserved Forest- Megalithic complexMenhir & Habitation Site and Megalithic Burial Sites, Kodumanal
- CistDolmens and Ayyanar Images
- CistDolmens in Annavasal Vattam
Dolmens (Known As Kurangupattarai)- CistGroup of sculptured dolmens
Ramavarmapuram Menhir, Kerala
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
1 source behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q97481579wikidata.org
Image files
- Dolmens, Vilpatti 10.jpgA.LogananthCC BY-SA 4.0
- Dolmens, Vilpatti 01.jpgA.LogananthCC BY-SA 4.0
- Dolmens, Vilpatti 02.jpgA.LogananthCC BY-SA 4.0
- Dolmens, Vilpatti 03.jpgA.LogananthCC BY-SA 4.0
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
- Dolmens Near Talayar River On Top Of The Hill3.7 km SW
- Dolmens Near Machur Reserved Forest5.3 km E
- Menhir & Habitation Site and Megalithic Burial Sites, Kodumanal92 km N
- Dolmens and Ayyanar Images108 km E
- Dolmens in Annavasal Vattam131 km E
- Dolmens (Known As Kurangupattarai)137 km E
- Group of sculptured dolmens143 km NW
Credit
Text, licence and sources
This page is assembled from open records (Wikidata, CC0; OpenStreetMap, ODbL) and a tradition article paraphrasing Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). No article exists for this site, and nothing here is written by a model.
- Wikidata Q97481579CC0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0
- en.wikipedia.orgCC BY-SA 4.0