30 kms from the fascinating monuments of Hampi lies Hirebenekal – a stone age site, its past, shrouded in mystery. It is home to hundreds of spectacular megalithic dolmens. The history of Hirebenekal predates most of the current monuments in Hampi by at least 2000 years.
Our journey begins in Hampi, the ancient capital of the powerful Vijayanagara empire. In its heyday, Hampi was a prosperous grand city reaching its zenith at around the 13th century. However, Hampi has a past that is much older than the Vijayanagara empire. According to the hindu epic Ramayana, Hampi was Kishkinda the spot where Rama and Lakshmana met Hanuman and his army.
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Hirebenakal was a megalithic site that was discovered and excavated by an archeologist from the University of Dharwad in 1975. Megaliths are large stones that have been put together to construct structures in the stone age (8700 BCE – 2000 BCE).
Most archeologists consider dolmens to be megalithic homes or tombs. According to them, Hirebenakal is a stone age burial site. But that’s where a mystery begins. Though the Dolmens are regarded as burial sites till date there have been no human bones found here (or in any dolmen).
The legends surrounding the Dolmens also add to the mystery. The locals call the area Morera Thatte. They believe that the Moryars were an ancient people who built these dolmens. The locals believe that the Moryars were a race of dwarves – short people who possessed superhuman strength. Strength that helped them arrange the stones into these remarkable structures.