3,000-Year-Old Structures in India? What Secrets Do They Hold?

Strange stones of unknown origin at Heribeniko in Karnataka and Narthia in Meghalaya. How did these megaliths and others across the world share so much in common in an age before connectivity? If you think of megaliths, Stonehenge may come to mind. But stone structures like these aren't just in England. They exist on different continents. Is there an ancient connection between them? That's a very critical question for us. How these similar looking structures are all over the world? They are in India, they are in Korea, they are in Europe or elsewhere. How, whether they were connected or how they got the idea to create these mysterious stones? Separated by continents and oceans, in a time before recorded history, were our ancestors connecting in ways we do not know of today? The term megalith comes from the Greek words megas or great and lithos meaning stone. This corner of Karnataka is part of the Dharwad Craton, the oldest part of the Indian Peninsula, with some of the oldest rocks in the world. It's a desolate moonscape with one of the most intriguing prehistoric sites of all time. Hirebenikal is as strange as it looks. There is very little conclusive proof, but researchers believe that these monuments could have been erected over a period during the Iron Age, about 3,000 to 2,500 years ago. Hirebenikal is located in the Khopal district of Karnataka, about 50 kilometers away from the famous ruins of Hampi. There is no motorable road to the site. A hiking trail is the only way up through the rocks. It may seem that the rugged landscape would be unfit for human habitation, but halfway up the hill there is evidence that proves otherwise. On a large rock are a series of ancient paintings, images that give a glimpse into a prehistoric world. Were the interlocked arms of the humans in the paintings a depiction of an ancient tribal dance, a ritual to appease their gods? These answers are lost to time. Further up reveals the enigmatic remains of an unknown epoch. The site is carpeted with megalithic structures. Spread over an area of nearly 200,000 square meters, the megaliths are arranged in an east-west orientation to a distance of about one kilometer. Prehistoric stone structures like these across the world could have been built for various purposes, to commemorate events or even as astronomical tools to study the heavens. There is no conclusive proof, but researchers believe that Herebenico was a necropolis, a burial site. There are other prehistoric megalithic structures scattered across India. Herebenico is the largest of its kind in the country. Here the most prevalent megaliths are structures called dolmens, created by erecting three huge granite slabs with a flat table like capstone on top. They form a three-sided chamber. Some of the dolmens have circular windows cut into them. What was this for? Portal for the dead soul to pass through? Herebenico leaves these and so many other questions unanswered. Most of the dolmens are smaller than average human height, so the locals call them Moriyara Mani or House of Dwarfs. That may sound like a Lord of the Rings prequel, except Herebenico is very real. The site is now a contender for a UNESCO World Heritage status. Inside these strange portals and under fallen stones lie secrets of a time before history. About 3,000 kilometers from the prehistoric megalithic site of Herebenico is a place where megaliths are still part of local culture. Northeast India is no stranger to strange stones, in particular Meghalaya. Its cool rain-washed hills are dramatically different to Herebenico's arid terrain, but hidden within its green valleys are intriguing secrets. Here, in a tiny village in the Jayanthia hills, is the Narthiyang Monolith Park. Monolith means single stone. This site is jam-packed with single standing stones called menhirs. There are also dolmens, structures made of horizontal slabs, supported by two or more upright stones. Narthiyang's name itself leads to your mystery. If you visit those sites, you'll really feel how someone could pull these large stones into that location, how they could erect it in such a height, and who might have created these structures. And these are definitely something unique of this region. In Meghalaya's west Jayanthia hills, Narthiyang is about 65 kilometers away from the capital, Shillong. Because the region's history is largely unrecorded, the origins of the Narthiyang stones are particularly unknown. We have been living in the hills since a long time ago. We don't really even know. And the monolith has been there even before us. We are not being able to date them properly. However, there is another interesting thing to take into consideration. That's the oral stories. Information passed down the generations tells us that these stones were erected by the Jayanthia kings in medieval times. Many historians believe that it's likely that the practice was much older, but the symbolism of these stones changed over time. Jayanthia, they have their own kingdom, which is a very powerful kingdom at one point of time. Actually, we have history of the kingdom from 1500 till 1835 when the British defeated our king. At its zenith, the Jayanthia rulers controlled an area that stretched from the summer capital at Narthiyang to Jayanthiapur in modern-day Bangladesh. The monolith park is about 100 meters long and about 40 meters wide. Oral history suggests that this spot was an important marketplace or a place for public gatherings. You know, it also has some kind of a spiritual aspect to it. If you visit a traditional market, you'll always see that there are monoliths in that area. We believe that we have to worship the deities, which is part of the market. It is believed that the stones erected here could also have been to commemorate great events or to honor community members who have passed. The standing menhirs are said to be dedicated to the male ancestors, while the dolmens are dedicated to women. The most impressive is called Mulong Siam, standing over 25 feet high. The story has it that it was erected by a person called Marphalanki. Legend has it that the giant was unable to erect the stone at first. He turned to the gods for advice. Marphalanki lured someone into a pit he had created for erecting the stone. Once the unsuspecting man was inside, the giant lifted the great stone and crushed him under it. The violent legend adds to the enigma surrounding the stones at Nartiyang. You have megaliths, dolmens, menhirs, all these are all across the world. But these are lost traditions. North East is the place where it is still a living tradition. North East is the place where you can see these things still going on, still practiced, very close to what was in the past. The puzzling similarities between the unexplained stone structures and megaliths found across the world continue to baffle scholars. What connects Nartiyang, Hiribeniko, Stonehenge, Gangwa, Brittany and other sites? Was there a common belief system about life, death and the afterlife developing around the world thousands of years ago? But how is this possible in an age before global connectivity and trans-oceanic travel? These are little understood chapters in the story of humankind and will perhaps always be enigmas in stone.