The Astronomical Significance of 'Nilurallu', The Megalithic Stone Alignment at Muradoddiin Andhra Pradesh, India

TL;DR

This study investigates the 'Nilurallu' megalithic stone alignment in India, revealing its astronomical significance through observations of sunrises and sunsets during key calendrical events, highlighting its role in ancient timekeeping.

Contribution

The paper provides new observational evidence linking the Nilurallu stone alignment to astronomical phenomena, demonstrating its potential use in ancient calendrical and time measurement systems.

Findings

Stones align with sunrise and sunset on solstices and equinoxes

Shadows of stones enable measurement of short time intervals

Similarities with other megalithic sites suggest widespread astronomical knowledge

Abstract

The stone alignment 'Nilurallu' at Murardoddi is a megalithic monument containing standing stones of 12 to 16 feet high that are arranged somewhat in a squarish pattern. This is one of the stone alignments listed by Allchin (1956) as a non-sepulchal array that might have some astronomical connotations. This impressive stone alignment seems to be similar to that at Vibhuthihalli, that was studied earlier, but constructed with much larger stones. The observations conducted by us show that the rows of stones are aligned to the directions of sunrise (and sunset) on calendrically-important events, like equinoxes and solstices. In contrast to Vibhuthihalli, the shadows of stones provide a means of measuring shorter intervals of time. Key words: Observational astronomy, megalithic astronomy, stone alignments, equinoxes, solstices, sunrises