* Astronomy

Hazaribagh’s prehistoric megaliths are finally receiving the academic and popular attention they deserve. Subhashis Das has been working tirelessly to preserve them and started the Megalithic Utsav at Punkhri- Barwadih two years ago to generate awareness about these sentinels from the remote past. The Utsav is held on the morning of the two equinoxes each year, when the sun can be seen rising through the V-shaped gap between a pair of tall megaliths.

“This beautiful astronomical sight can be seen only on equinox mornings here. It’s a rare, spectacular phenomenon. These ancient stones were actually superb astronomical-astrological observatories” - Subhashis Das,  who has discovered three megalithic observatories in Jharkhand.

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The Hazaribagh District originally covered the entire North Chotanagpur Division, or the entire plateau of Hazaribagh, which is the northern tract of the massif divided by the Damodar River from east to west, with the Ranchi plateau lying to the south. Today the region is part of the new tribal state of Jharkhand (meaning Forest Land). This is an area rich in archaeological deposits, megaliths and dolmens, and rivers that are considered sacred such as the Damodar River, and hundreds of sacred groves (sarna).

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