A few days of dry spell in the third week of November last year bestirred us to forage into the eastern portions of Indira Gandhi National Park in search of less known pre-historic remains.

We chose a Sunday, (November 21) for our trip to Maraiyur that is cradled in between the hill ranges of Udamalpet and Munnar of Kerala State. It was evident that there was a downpour the previous night in Udamalpet and its surrounding areas. It became more evident when we touched Kurichy Kottai village, a few kilometres from Udamalpet, on the Udamalpet-Munnar road.

As we progressed on the Munnar road, there was hope of seeing some of the pre-historic remains.

Maraiyur is located at a distance of 40 kilometres from Udamalpet. An hour-and-a-half drive from Maraiyur leads to Munnar, the home of tea and thar. The Udamalpet range and its thick flora looked greener due to the sharp showers received. This chunk of forest falls under Indira Gandhi National Park. Crossing the Tamil Nadu forest check-post, we were led into the Chinnar Games Sanctuary. Beyond it lies the Alampetti tribal centre where trekking to Thoovanam waterfalls, amidst dolmen and rock art, high on the hill. Staying in camp in log houses are arranged. Since these tourist destinations are situated on different routes, a guide fee of Rs.100 per individual is levied for each trip. We planned to visit these places on our return journey from Kovilkadavu, near Maraiyur, where we witnessed the pre-historical remains.

We drove to Maraiyur, which is five kilometres away from Alampetti. But instead of heading straight to Maraiyur, we decided to take diversion and reached Kovilkadavu, a small township on the banks of Pambar River. It is located in the valley below the Munnar road.

Dolmens of pre-historic age

Overlooking Kovilkadavu are rock outcrops where dolmens of neolithic and megalithic ages are sighted. We went up to two such rocky outcrops, one on the road–side leading to a Ramar temple and the other at the backyard of Government Higher Secondary School on the upper stretch of the road that connects Maraiyur.

Near Ramar temple, which commands the view of the surrounding hills of Munnar Range and Kovilkadavu, we could see dolmens of Pre-historic Age. They are ascribed to megalithic age dating back to 10,000 B.C. They are 70 cm in height, built with rough granite stone slabs on three sides and a cap stone placed over them to serve as a roof. The stones used were all roughly hewn.