An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s17.25

v1.c9.s17.25

*Megaliths in Tamil literature.* Ancient Tamil literature is not devoid of references to megaliths in the form of burial grounds and urn burials, in addition to cremation. Thus in the *Maṇimekhalai* there is mention of those who cremated, those who cast away or exposed the dead to the elements or animals, those who laid the body in pits dug into the ground, those who interred the body in pits in subterranean callars or vaults and those who placed the body inside a burial urn and inverted a lid over it (Srinivasan, 1946).