World’s Largest Geoglyphs and 43 Megaliths Found in India’s Thar Desert !

sidharthabahadur · January 28, 2023, 8:56am

List members , this is an astonishing new discovery .

I can tell you , even locals there don't really know anything much about the origin of these Geoglyphs . That just adds to their enigmatic mystery...!

**I will add a couple of observations here for a better perspective - the legendary Vedic river Saraswati which dried up thousands of years ago , once used to flow through this very region , right along the present day India-Pakistan border...the ancient Indus Valley site of Mohenjo Daro (now in Pakistan) by the Indus river , is barely 200Km away from these ENORMOUS petroglyphs...hmm , definitely some food for thought !!

***43 Megaliths have also been found in this border region of India's Jaisalmer . Such prehistoric Megaliths are also found in Balochistan and Sindh provinces of Pakistan .

French Scientists Find Geoglyphs, 43 Megaliths In Jaisalmer Villages | Jaipur News - Times of India.

UPDATED 27 MAY, 2021 - 22:47 SAHIR

World’s Largest Geoglyphs Found in India’s Thar Desert

The Thar Desert, or the Great Indian Desert, is a part of India’s national heritage, located in the western state of Rajasthan, spread over a whopping 77,220 square miles (200,000 square kilometers). Two independent researchers from France conducted a meticulous survey of the desert using Google Earth and drones leading to the identification of 8 Thar Desert geoglyph sites in the Jaisalmer district. The clear-cut geometrical lines and arranged motifs of the Thar Desert geoglyphs are now the largest ever graphical depictions by humans in the world!

Ancient Medicinal Mint Has Untapped Potential, New Research Reveals

"So far, these geoglyphs, the largest discovered worldwide and for the first time in the Indian subcontinent, are also unique as regards their enigmatic signs,” Carlo and Yohann Oetheimer write in their study published in the journal Archaeological Research in Asia . The previous record was held by “The Marree Man” in Australia, which is 4,200 meters (2.6 miles) long, but the discovery in the Thar Desert covers an area of 100,000 square meters, easily surpassing all prior records.

An aerial view of one section of the immense Thar Desert geoglyphs in the desert of Rajasthan, India. (Carlo Oetheimer and Yohann Oetheimer / Archaeological Research in Asia)

An aerial view of one section of the immense Thar Desert geoglyphs in the desert of Rajasthan, India. (Carlo Oetheimer and Yohann Oetheimer / Archaeological Research in Asia )

The Immense Thar Desert Geoglyphs: Found With Drones

Geoglyphs are land or rock art motifs, which are very large and generally bigger than 4.4 yards (4 meters). The Nazca lines in Peru (500 BC – 500 AD) are the world’s most famous geoglyphs.

But the Thar Desert geoglyphs are so immense that their creators were unlikely themselves to have ever gotten a full picture of the entire art landscapes they made, according to Science Alert .

Using drone technology and data collected in the field “the exceptional character of the graphic patterns near the village of Boha” were revealed. The two distinctly tremendous figures, titled Boha 1 and Boha 2, respectively, depict “a giant spiral adjacent to an atypical serpent shaped drawing” connected together “with a cluster of sinuous lines.”

Huge geoglyphs etched into the Thar Desert. (Carlo Oetheimer and Yohann Oetheimer / Archaeological Research in Asia )

The Thar Desert geoglyphs lines are etched into the ground, 10 centimeters (4 inches) deep, and ranging from 20-50 centimeters (8-20 inches) in width. Boha 1, the giant asymmetrical spiral, is made from a single looping line running for 7.5 miles (12 kilometers), over an area 792 yards (724 meters) long by 220 yards (201 meters) wide.

On the southwest side of Boha 1 lies Boha 2 a serpentine figure recognized by a huge 6.8-mile (11-kilometer) line that forms the outer body of the serpent. A smaller spiral is located within Boha 2, as well as boustrophedon-style line sequences, a style of drawing in which alternate lines are reversed.

The Hindu memorial stones located around the Thar Desert geoglyphs suggest an advanced form of mathematics, design and planimetry related to the glyphs near them. (Carlo Oetheimer and Yohann Oetheimer / Archaeological Research in Asia)

The Hindu memorial stones located around the Thar Desert geoglyphs suggest an advanced form of mathematics, design and planimetry related to the glyphs near them. (Carlo Oetheimer and Yohann Oetheimer / Archaeological Research in Asia )

Thar Desert Geoglyphs: Cultural or Religious Site?

The other Thar Desert geoglyphs are also magnificent but likely of lesser importance. Boha 3 is a series of meandering lines 30 miles (48 kilometers) in length, which the research duo suspect extended to 50 miles (80 kilometers) when first “drawn.”

"The giant spiral and serpentine figure are definitely the major points of interest, closely connected to Boha 3, suggesting that all the other geoglyphs were created as a framework for this set. Due to their spatial contiguity, patterns 1, 2, and 3 can be perceived as a sequential project.”

Although they are of interest due to their immense size, the Thar Desert geoglyphs are only believed to be 150 years old, and possibly linked to the Hindu memorial stones surrounding them, though their function and meaning are yet to be learnt or understood. Even the source of these geoglyphs and the artist behind them are unknown to the researchers, who hypothesize that it could be a yet-unknown cultural practice or an undiscovered spiritual art form .

“Because of their uniqueness, we can speculate that they could represent a commemoration of an exceptional celestial event observed locally. We remain convinced that these unique geoglyphs are closely connected to their geographical and cultural context, and possibly contain a universal message linked to the Sacred and the cosmos,” the researchers stated, suggesting religious, astrological or cosmological meanings.

At the same time, it would be important to acknowledge the world of possibilities that either of these speculations could lead to including a keen understanding of mathematics, design and planimetry by the creator(s). Planimetry is the study of plane measurements like angles, distances, and areas, independent of those features that are elevated, like roads, rivers, and lakes.

Going forward, it is important to note the role of technology, including drones and Google Earth, in this find and how these technologies can benefit future archaeologists, historians and scholars. The combination of Google Earth satellite tech, drone technology, and field research may reveal other fascinating historical and cultural things that are hidden from plain sight.

Top image: Lines in the sands of the Thar Desert caused by nature’s wind patterns are endless and natural, but the recently discovered Thar Desert geoglyphs are the largest in the world made by human hands. Source: Patrick Ranz / Adobe Stock

Regards

sidharthabahadur · February 1, 2023, 2:42pm

Folks , please mark my words about this - the prehistoric key to India's ancient civilisation is the legendary Saraswati river described in the Rig Veda . The discovery of a massive prehistoric river in the Thar desert is such a tantalising clue that it's giving me goosebumps !

***There may well be several ancient cities from the Vedic age that lie buried beneath the sands of the Thar & Cholistan desert spread across India and Pakistan...

'Lost' river that ran through Thar Desert 172,000 years ago found

PTILast Updated: Oct 21, 2020, 02:40 PM IST

Synopsis

Researchers have found the evidence of a "lost" river that ran through the central Thar Desert, near Bikaner, as early as 172 thousand years ago, and may have been a life-line to human populations enabling them to inhabit the region.

rrr Agencies

Researchers have found the evidence of a "lost" river that ran through the central Thar Desert, near Bikaner, as early as 172 thousand years ago, and may have been a life-line to human populations enabling them to inhabit the region. The findings, published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, represent the oldest directly dated phase of river activity at Nal Quarry in the central Thar Desert.

The study by researchers from The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, Anna University in Tamil Nadu, and IISER Kolkata indicates that Stone Age populations lived in a distinctly different Thar Desert landscape than we encounter today.

This evidence indicates a river flowed with phases of activity dating to approximately up to 172 thousand years ago, nearby to Bikaner, Rajasthan, which is over 200 kilometres away from the nearest modern river. These findings predate evidence for activity in modern river courses across the Thar Desert as well as dried up course of the Ghaggar-Hakra River, the researchers said.

The presence of a river running through the central Thar Desert would have offered a life-line to Paleolithic populations, and potentially an important corridor for migrations, they said. The researchers noted that the potential importance of 'lost' rivers for earlier inhabitants of the Thar Desert have been overlooked.

"The Thar Desert has a rich prehistory, and we've been uncovering a wide range of evidence showing how Stone Age populations not only survived but thrived in these semi-arid landscapes," said Jimbob Blinkhorn from The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. "We know how important rivers can be to living in this region, but we have little detail on what river systems were like during key periods of prehistory," Blinkhorn said.

Studies of satellite imagery have shown a dense network of river channels crossing the Thar Desert, according to the researchers. "These studies can indicate where rivers and streams have flowed in the past, but they can't tell us when," explained Professor Hema Achyuthan of Anna University.

"To demonstrate how old such channels are, we had to find evidence on the ground for river activity in the middle of the desert," Achyuthan said. The team studied a deep deposit of river sands and gravels, which had been exposed by quarrying activity near the village of Nal. The researchers were able to document different phases of river activity by studying the different deposits.

"We immediately saw evidence for a substantial and very active river system from the bottom of the fluvial deposits, which gradually decreased in power through time," Achyuthan said. The researchers used a method called luminescence dating to understand when quartz grains in the river sands were buried.

The results indicated that the strongest river activity at Nal occurred at approximately 172 and 140 thousand years ago, at a time when the monsoon was much weaker than today in the region. River activity continued at the site between 95 to 78 thousand years ago, after which only limited evidence for the presence of a river at the site, with evidence for a brief reactivation of the channel 26 thousand years ago, the study found.

The river was flowing at its strongest during a phase of weak monsoonal activity in the region, and may have been a life-line to human populations enabling them to inhabit the Thar Desert, the researchers said. The timeframe over which this river was active also overlaps with significant changes in human behaviour in the region, which have been linked with the earliest expansions of Homo sapiens from Africa into India, they said.

"This river flowed at a critical timeframe for understanding human evolution in the Thar Desert, across South Asia and beyond," said Blinkhorn. "This suggests a landscape in which the earliest members of our own species, Homo sapiens, first encountered the monsoons and crossed the Thar Desert may have been very different to the landscape we can see today," he added.

Regards

deandddd · February 4, 2023, 1:51am

"The timeframe over which this river was active also overlaps with significant changes in human behaviour in the region, which have been linked with the earliest expansions of Homo sapiens from Africa into India, they said".

Brainwashed ...

Cheers!

sidharthabahadur · February 4, 2023, 6:31am

@deandddd , I agree . Here is a stunning research article on one of the ancient cities buried in the desert - Ganeriwala . The site of Ganeriwala lies almost EXACTLY midway between Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro , the two famous UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation .

**GPR Technology has been used to detect 2 large mounds in the Cholistan desert region , under which a city that was the contemporary of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro , lies buried at Ganeriwala . There are more such cities buried under the sands of this desert , that are yet to be discovered...!

Glimpses of Ganweriwala, on Sarasvati River Basin -- harappa.com Decipherment of Ganweriwala seal, mint, warehouse of goldsmith guild

Pictorial narratives: There are figurines of one-horned young bull of Ganweriwala. The one-horned young bull signifies Indus Script.

khōṇḍa m A young bull, a bullcalf. rebus: kunda, 'one of कुबेर's nine treasures', kundaṇa'fine gold'.कोंद kōnda ‘young bull' कोंद kōnda ‘engraver, turner'. कुलालादिकन्दुः f. a kiln; a potter's kiln; kō̃da कोँद 'potter's kiln' (Kashmiri) Thus, an iron turner (in smithy/forge).Rebus: Ta. kuntaṉam
interspace for setting gems in a jewel; fine gold (< Te.). Ka. kundaṇa
setting a precious stone in fine gold; fine gold; kundana fine gold. Tu. kundaṇa pure gold. Te. kundanamu fine gold used in very thin foils in setting precious stones; setting precious stones with fine gold. (DEDR 1725).Hypertexts: భక్తుడు. maṇḍi 'kneeling position' Rebus: maṇḍā 'warehouse, workshop' (Konkani) māḍ a 'shrine; mandil 'temple' (Santali). kamaḍha ‘penance’ Rebus: kammaṭa ‘mint, coiner’. బత్తుడు battuḍu. n. A worshipper rebus: pattar 'goldsmith guild'; merchants

Sign 45Sign 46

bhaṭa 'worshipper' Rebus: bhaṭa 'furnace' baṭa 'iron' (Gujarati)

ma ṇḍ ā 'raised platform, stool, arch' rebus: ma ṇḍ ā 'warehouse'

Hieroglyph: kamadha 'penance' Rebus: kammata 'coiner, mint'

Glyph: kaṇḍo ‘stool’. Rebus; kaṇḍ ‘furnace’.

maṇḍā 'raised platform, stool, arch' rebus: maṇḍā 'warehouse'

மேடை mēṭai , n. [Telugu. mēḍa] 1. Platform, raised floor; தளமுயர்ந்த இடப்பகுதி. 2. Artificial mound; செய்குன்று. (W.) 3. cf. mēṭa. Storey; terraced house or palace; மாடி. விண்ணார் நிலவுதவழ் மேடை (தாயு. பைங்கிளி. 54).మేడ (p. 1028) mēḍa mēḍa. [Tel.] n. A mansion or large house: an upper chamber, a storey, హర్మ్యము, సౌధము. मेंड (p. 390) mēṇḍa m ( H) Edge, margin, or border of a field, esp. as raised: also a ridge or raised edge more generally. (Marathi) Ta. meṭṭu mound, heap of earth; mēṭu height, eminence, hillock; muṭṭu rising ground, high ground, heap. Ma. mēṭu rising ground, hillock; māṭu hillock, raised ground; miṭṭāl rising ground, an alluvial bank; (Tiyya) maṭṭa hill. Ka. mēḍu height, rising ground, hillock; miṭṭu rising or high ground, hill; miṭṭe state of being high, rising ground, hill, mass, a large number; (Hav.) muṭṭe heap (as of straw). Tu. miṭṭè prominent, protruding; muṭṭe heap.
Te. meṭṭa raised or high ground, hill; (K.) meṭṭu mound; miṭṭa high ground, hillock, mound; high, elevated, raised, projecting; (VPK) mēṭu, mēṭa, mēṭi stack of hay; (Inscr.) meṇṭa-cēnu dry field (cf. meṭṭu-nēla, meṭṭu-vari). Kol. (SR.) meṭṭā hill; (Kin.) meṭṭ, (Hislop) met mountain. Nk. meṭṭ hill, mountain. Ga. (S.3, LSB 20.3) meṭṭa high land. Go. (Tr. W. Ph.) maṭṭā, (Mu.) maṭṭa mountain; (M. L.) meṭāid., hill; (A. D. Ko.) meṭṭa, (Y. Ma. M.) meṭa hill; (SR.) meṭṭā hillock Konḍa meṭa id.
Kuwi (S.) metta hill; (Isr.) meṭa sand hill.(DEDR 5058). Rebus: me**ḍ ‘iron’ (Ho.Munda)mẽṛhet iron (metal), meD 'iron' (Ho.) med 'copper' (Slavic)

kuṭila ‘bent’; rebus: kuṭila, katthīl = bronze (8 parts copper and 2 parts tin) [cf. āra-kūṭa, ‘brass’ (Skt.) (CDIAL 3230)
Glyph of ‘rim of jar’: kárṇaka m. ʻ projection on the side of a vessel, handle ʼ ŚBr. [kárṇa -- ]Pa. kaṇṇaka -- ʻ having ears or corners ʼ; (CDIAL 2831) kaṇḍa kanka; Rebus: furnace account (scribe). kaṇḍ = fire-altar (Santali); kan = copper (Tamil) khanaka m. one who digs , digger , excavator Rebus: karanikamu. Clerkship: the office of a Karanam or clerk. (Telugu) káraṇa n. ʻ act, deed ʼ RV. [√kr̥1] Pa. karaṇa -- n. ʻdoingʼ; NiDoc. karana, kaṁraṁna ʻworkʼ; Pk. karaṇa -- n. ʻinstrumentʼ(CDIAL 2790)
khareḍo = a currycomb (G.) Rebus: kharādī ‘ turner’ (Gujarati.)

khareḍo 'a currycomb' rebus kharada खरडें daybook.

Glimpses of Ganweriwala

May 4th, 2019

The least excavated of the five large known ancient Indus cities – Mohenjo-daro and Dholavira, Harappa and Rakigarhi – is Ganweriwala, discovered in the late 1980s by Rafique Mughal. Deep in the desert, far from any towns and close to the Indian border, it has hardly ever been written about until Farzand Masih's article Ganweriwala – A new Perspective published in Walking with the Unicorn (2018). "In recent years," writes Masih, "a four-meter wide road was constructed though the middle of Ganweriwala to facilitate the movement of hunting parties from the UAE. Although this is highly unfortunate, it did provide ready-made sections across the upper portions of the mounds" (Unicorn, p. 381, Figure 2, the road is also shown as the line through Mounds A and B in Figure 1).
Some remarkable finds have been coughed up from Ganweriwala, but first: how big is it really? Mughal estimated over 80 hectares, which would make it one of the largest Indus sites. A survey ten tears later had it at about half that size, though Masih writes: "it is possible that some areas of the site are now covered by sand dunes and, perhaps, will be located during future explorations" (p. 381). In any case, Ganweriwala was much larger than the dozens of other sites measured along the old Hakra riverbed by Mughal (see Ancient Cholistan, 1997)Perhaps the most astounding discovery was four unicorn figurines (Fig. 3), the most from any Indus site (they are only also found at Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Chanhu-daro). Then there is a clay tablet with a seated yogi-type figure (Fig. 4), as well as a nearly pure copper seal with boss not found elsewhere.
Ganweriwala also lies along the old Hakra riverbed that once flowed through here (the Saraswati? even if it flowed perennially as recent work seems to show till 1900 BCE). It is also roughly equidistant between Harappa, to the north on the Ravi River, and Mohenjo-daro, to the south on the Indus River, which might have made it a regional capital well downstream of Rakigarhi. Of course we will not know until it is properly excavated and some real trenches are dug deeply into the two known mounds, and the surrounding region is better explored. When that might be, no one know, the site has been untouched for thousands of years – until a sheikh got his road, and Indus archaeologists were tossed another tantalizing puzzle (we may lament the road construction, but the truth is that rapid construction throughout the subcontinent is unearthing many new sites which, sadly, are momentarily visible and then paved over and lost to scholarship for who knows how long).
The article is part of Walking with the Unicorn (2018).
Images:

Contour map of Ganweriwala
Road cut on Mound A
Images and line drawings of four unicorn figurines (photograph and drawing by Farzand Masih)
Clay tablet with yogi and three graphemes of the Indus script (photograph and drawing by Farzand Masih)

Excavations

Posted 7th June 2019 by kalyan97

Labels: Indus Script Itihāsa Meluhha Sarasvati

Regards

sidharthabahadur · February 4, 2023, 1:02pm

List members , the ancient Greek writer Strabo had written an excellent text on geography , about 200 years after Alexander's time . It is incredible that during Alexander's invasion of India , one of his trusted scouts , Aristobolus , had seen the following (please see point 19 of this article) :-

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/strabo-geog-book15-india.asp

Ancient History Sourcebook:
Strabo: Geography: Book XV: On India

"At any rate, he says that when he was sent upon a certain mission he saw a country of more than a thousand cities, together with villages, that had been deserted because the Indus had abandoned its proper bed, and had turned aside into the other bed on the left that was much deeper, and flowed with precipitous descent like a cataract, so that the Indus no longer watered by its overflows the abandoned country on the right, since that country was now above the level, not only of the new stream, but also of its overflows."

**If you realise , what is described above is the Vedic Saraswati civilisation that lies slightly East of the Indus river (running parallel to the Indus)...in 323 B.C. , these ancient cities were still visible to the Greeks - above ground !! Today , all of these sites are buried under the sands of the desert that lies across the India-Pakistan border region . I am amazed , but this account of India's geography , written by the ancient Greeks has somehow escaped the attention of mainstream Academia :)) Aristobolus describes the mighty Indus river as a mere cataract compared to the larger river bed to it's East that it had apparently abandoned . This is becaues Aristobolus did not know that the Vedas had described a separate river , the massive Saraswati (completely dried up 4000 years ago, creating a sandy desert) , which used to flow slightly to the East of the Indus river !

***Just dwell for a moment on the number of abandoned cities & villages Aristobolus had described - Over ONE THOUSAND !! Now imagine if all or most of these were unearthed by proper Archaeological excavation. Would it not cause history books to be ENTIRELY REWRITTEN ?? I rest my case :))

P.S. You must see the map of the ancient Saraswati river (green line) that once flowed in that region...the Indus river is depicted in blue and the India-Pakistan border is the red line . The dense cluster of dots along the green line represents the potential ancient cities along the Saraswati river (midway between the ancient Indus Valley sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro) - Aristobolus was actually seeing those cities with his own eyes !! Now , all of them have disappeared along with the Saraswati river , beneath the desert sands...!

Regards