The Kupgal petroglyphs refer rock art found at Kupgal in Bellary district of Karnataka. Thousands such have been found at Kupgal and researchers date it to the neolithic or even the old stone age. It was discovered first in 1892, but subsequently became lost to researchers until it was rediscovered recently. This site also has peculiar rock formations with unusual depressions which make musical sounds when struck with boulders.
Rediscovery
The site was first reported in the Asiatic Quarterly Review in 1892. But subsequent explorers who tried to trace it were unable to do so. A few pictures of the site had also been taken in the 19th Century, but the originals were either lost, or allowed to fade.
The petroglyphs
Many of the motifs on the rocks are of cattle, in particular the long-horned humped-back type found in southern India (Bos indicus). Some are of human-like figures, either on their own or accompanied by cattle. Some of these are in chains or with bows and arrows. According to Dr Boivin, the masculine nature of the engravings suggest that the people who made the images were men and were probably involved in herding cattle. The motifs were made by bruising the rocks, presumably with a stone implement. Some of the images are in locations so difficult to reach that it would have required the artists to suspended themselves from an overhang to make the images.
Musical rocks
The locals refer to the rock formations as the 'musical' rocks. They consist of peculiar depressions in the rocks, which when struck with boulders produce loud, gong-like musical tones. In some cultures, percussion plays an important role in rituals and it is thought that these may have been part of rituals of the people of the region.
Threatened
Commercial quarrying in the area now poses a serious threat to the motifs. Some sections of the hill have already been destroyed by the quarrying for granite. A rock shelter to the north of the Kupgal hill with an even older rock art has been partially destroyed. Dr Nicole Boivin, of the University of Cambridge, an expert who has researched the site has expressed fears that without government interest and intervention, the rock art may get destroyed completely.