HYDERABAD: What is it that brings southern Telangana region and South Korea closer? Apparently, the possible link is considered to date back to as many as 2,000 years! In search of the same, a nine-member team of archaeologists - scholars, curators, and professors from South Korea were in the region for the last two days, studying Indian petroglyphs (paintings depicted on rocks through pecking) and ancient rock art. And they believe, the art work seen on the megalithic rocks excavated from Mahabubnagar is way similar to that found in South Korea.
The team from the South East Asian country visited Mudumal in Mahbubnagar, Telangana, Mallaypalli near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Kupgal and Hire Benakal near Bel lary i n Karnataka. However, Lee Hoen Jai, curator of Gyonggi Provincial Museum, in Gyonggi Do, South Korea who was in the city on a historical trip wasn’t a happy man.
“They have destroyed all these beautiful megalithic stone structures with rock art that is distinct to structures that date back to BC 725. There are a number of geometric symbols that depict stories of life after death, that the people of those times believed in,” he said expressing sadness. Prof KP Rao, department of History, University of Hyderabad (UoH) who accompanied the team on the trip, added, “There are lots of similarities in the kind of art that is seen here on the megalithic rocks in South India and South Korea. There are similarities in the way rice is cultivated in both the places, and also Dravidian and Korean languages.
These archaeologists are here to do a comparative study of art material here and other parts of South Asia, with a special focus on South Korea.” Now a curator, Lee completed his PhD from UoH in 2007. “I have studied these sites then and now. The sight makes me sad and sick,” he added, referring to the stone henge structures found in Mudumal in Mahbubnagar, the only one that exists in whole of South Asia.
The other is in England. “It dates back to the 18th century and now it is destroyed though it is something that needs to be protected,” added Lee, who was the only one who could communicate in English from the group. Pointing to his collection of photographs from Mallayipalli, a small town seven kilometres from Chandragiri near Tirupati, Lee explained the intricacies of rock art on the dolmen that date back to 7th century BC.
“There are 1,182 human figures on the underside of the dolmen of 420 mts. They speak largely about death and it is clear that they believed in life after death. The paintings talk about people leaving the earth, their burial and their comeback,” Lee said. “These paintings show that they also bury a dagger along with the body. This has also been found in some of the megalithic sites in South Korea. The group found these aspects relevant, interesting and also important,” Prof Rao said.