Exploring the secret lives of ancient monuments Premium

Discover the astronomical significance of Indian megaliths through Srikumar M. Menon's journey from architecture to storytelling.

A love for astronomy drew Srikumar M. Menon to megaliths, stone structures erected by ancient people in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, continuing through the Iron Age and Early Historic period. “I was fascinated by stories of Stonehenge and its claims of astronomical connections,” says Menon in an interview following a recent event titled The Secret Life of Monuments held at the Bangalore International Center. 

He did not know there were similar structures in India until he discovered a research paper about Indian megaliths and their connection to astronomy, recalls the architect associated with Bengaluru’s National Institute of Advanced Studies. So he began visiting some of these megalithic sites, even going on to do his PhD on the astronomical significance of megalithic monuments in India.

“I have been walking around in many of these sites for the last 20 years,” he tells Vinay Parameswarappa, the founder of experiential tour company Gully Tours, with whom he was in conversation with at the event. 

These two decades spent exploring these various places inspired his book, God on the Hill & Other Stories, published earlier this year. The collection of 10 short stories draws from the locales, monuments and myths associated with many of the ancient monuments he studied, including megaliths in Kerala and Karnataka, a Buddhist stupa in Karnataka, and an exquisite little rock-cut temple in the Kumaon Himalaya. “Wherever I go to any historical site, there are usually stories there that do not have a direct impact on academic research. But they are important because people nearby believe it or that sort of thing,” says Menon.

He says the book, an atonement of sorts for all the legends and myths he has ignored or busted, took nearly 15 years to write. “The oldest story in this is probably started in 2005 or something like that, so it has been a while in the making,” he says. “I didn’t conceive of it as a book when I started. I was just writing a story whenever I felt like it.”

“I’ve been incredibly lucky that I get to see some out-of-the-way spots, and I’ll have tried to capture the essence of some of these places,” says Menon before taking his audience at the event to the settings of some of these stories, using a series of stunning photographs.

Three stories in the book are set in megalithic sites, which can range from menhirs (upright stones), dolmens (burial chambers), cairn circles (circular stone arrangements) and burial cists (underground stone enclosures), among others. “They have something to do with death,” says Menon, pointing out that they are often burial sites or structures set up to commemorate a person or spot of some importance. He adds that the origins and significance of some, such as the various stone alignments, are still a mystery.