An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c35.26

v2.c35.26

Halingali, Dt Bijapur in Taluka Jamkhandi (16°30'; 75°20'), about 5 km e. of TERDAL at the foot of the e.-w. oriented sandstone hill plateaux. Close to the w. of the village is a late medieval stone fort in ruins. S and e. of the villages on the hilly terraces there are more than 400 megaliths [4.17.9] in continuation of those on the same hillock within the limits of TERDAL and HANGANDI. In fact megaliths exist continuously even beyond the limits of Halingali in the areas of two other adjacent villages MADALMATTI and ASANGI. The megaliths are chiefly of four types: passage chambers of Greek or Latin cross type; circular passage chambers; small square chambers; and cairn stone circles. As at TERDAL there are pillars within the passage chamber of both the types to support multiple capstones. In case the chamber is high the cairn packing on the outside supporting the chamber is held by a dry coursed rubble wall rectangular on plan. Otherwise the rubble packing is held by concentric circles or a circle and a rectangle. The largest chamber on an average measures about 5·50 by 6·50 m and the coursed wall enclosing the cairn packing 12 m. Occasionally on the s. exterior of the retaining wall there may be a semicircular enclosure with an opening at the centre in alignment with the passage of the chamber almost invariably oriented s.wards or somewhere between the s.-w. and s.-e. The cairn stone circles are self-explanatory. The square chamber is generally small in size enclosed by a circles but with very weak cairn packing in between. Occasionally on the exterior of the enclosing circles there may be two or three smaller chambers enclosed by semicircles abutting the main circles. Megaliths of these two types are about a dozen each that appear to represent the fag end of the burial practice at the site. Besides there are two or three low round barrows.