In Dindigul district of South Indian state of Tamilnadu, lies the village called Kothankaradu. It is located near Palani hills. In this place, the archaelogists found few stone structures weighing around 8 tons between 2 cliffs. (Pic below)
Archaelogist Narayanamurthy visited the site and did his research on these structures. His observations are below:
These stone structures are set up 6000 years back to track the movement of Sun. There are 3 rocks in the left and 3 in the right placed one over the other. At the top, there is a stone plank set up with a hole. In the first week of Tamil month 'Thai' (starting 14th of January), the sun light passes through this hole during sunset. In the first week of Tamil month 'Aadi" (starting 17th of July), the sun light passes through this hole during sunrise. (refer to the pic below)
From 1st day of 'Thai' month, the Sun moves towards North (which is called Uttarayanam*). Similarly, from the 1st day of 'Aadi' month, the Sun moves towards South (which is called Dakshinayanam*). Looking at these stone structures, it is understandable that We had a system to observe these 2 movements of Sun 6000 years back itself. Ancient Tamils made use of this system in Agriculture as well. An old saying "Aadi pattam thedi vidhai" (meaning Sow the seeds during Aadi month) signifies the importance of tracking the movement of Sun in agriculture. The fact that such huge rocks are being balanced by a coconut sized stone is mind boggling even at this age. There are stone structures present in countries like France, England and Israel. However, they are said to be only 2000-3000 years old. These structures found in Tamilnadu are said to be 6000 years.
This is a proof of how Tamils blended astronomy with farming so many thousand years back itself.
References:
More information on Uttarayanam & Dakshinayanam is given in a blog (http://theancientindia.blogspot.in/2013/10/uttarayanam-and-dakshinayanam.html)
