Megalithic burial cluster under threat in Mahabubnagar

Hyderabad: Megalithic burial clusters belonging to the Iron Age at Moosapet in Addakal Mandal of Mahabubnagar district have been found under a serious threat of extinction owing to various development activities, said Dr E. Sivanagi Reddy, an archaeologist and CEO of Pleach India Foundation. As part of the awareness program ‘Preserve Heritage for Posterity,’ he […]

Hyderabad: Megalithic burial clusters belonging to the Iron Age at Moosapet in Addakal Mandal of Mahabubnagar district have been found under a serious threat of extinction owing to various development activities, said Dr E. Sivanagi Reddy, an archaeologist and CEO of Pleach India Foundation.

As part of the awareness program ‘Preserve Heritage for Posterity,’ he conducted a survey at Moosapet and Sankalamaddi villages on Monday and examined the burial structures.

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The burials arranged in circles of nearly 20 huge boulders vary in diameter from 1.0 to 1.5 metres and are locally called as ‘Mutyamugundlu,’ as per a local named Ramachandrayya.

“There were over 100 burials here in 1988. When I was working as an official at the Department of Archaeology and Museums, I visited the site and could hardly find six burials,” says Reddy.

According to locals, the huge boulders of the burial structures were crushed into metal and building material due to lack of knowledge on their archaeological significance.

The archaeologist sensitised the villagers and the owners of the agricultural fields in which the burials are located and appealed to preserve the existing Iron Age remains for future generations.

Along with Reddy, Sarath Chandra, conservation architect, participated in the program.