Kiran Balakrishna

Did you know rocks have memory? Yes, indeed, rocks do have memories, read on to know how! 🙂
This is a very interesting post with Geology, archeology and pre-history all intertwined into one!
I learnt this recently from a young archaeologist during my recent trip to Maharashtra.
Deep within the jungles of Sahyadri in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra is a small village called Devanche Gothane. The village is in the foothills of a vast laterite plateau which is typical of sahyadris.The plateau contains large swathes of dry grass which render golden hue and turn magical during golden hours in the evening with the sun setting in the backdrop, beyond the Arabian sea along the Western shores of Maharashtra.
Among these dry grass on the laterite bed lies an ancient art, which is probably among the oldest art forms in entire India, perhaps more than 10,000 years old.
These are the Geoglyphs of Konkan, images of Animals, plants, humans and other unknown symbols carved on the Basaltic rock, which are remnants of volcanic eruption.
One such Geoglyph, which is an image of a Human, above Devance Gothane village, exhibits a strange phenomena. Whenever, compass is taken close to the center of the image, it starts wobbling instead of aligning to the magnetic poles. Even I found this mind-boggling until a young archeologist in a local museum explained it to me.
The villagers believe there is treasure buried underneath and hence they say, their forefathers have associated the image with Ravana and call it Ravan Phadi, so that no one tries to desecrate the art and dig around for treasure.
The actual reason as explained by the archeologist is as follows:
"We all know that the magnetic pole of the earth keeps changing over several years. The iron and other mineral particles in these rocks align themselves in the direction of the poles during the solidification of these rocks, i.e.when they transition from molten lava into hard basaltic rock. Thus a local magnetic field of that era is permanently recorded in the rock. Therefore, when a compass is taken anywhere near it, the local magnetic field of the rock interferes with earth's magnetic field and the compass wobbles! "
So, yes indeed, rocks to have memories isn't it? 🙂
P. S. Such geoglyphs and petroglyps are spread across several places in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. They are also in the tentative list to be designated a UNESCO world Heritage site.

The Petroglphs of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra