10/6/2014 2,500-year-old labyrinth discovered in Dharmapuri

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Oct 05 2014 : The Times of India (Chennai)

2,500-year-oldlabyrinth discovered inDharmapuriMT Saju

Chennai

Archaeologists Believe It To Be The Largest

In The World

A 2,500-year-old labyrinth has been excavated in

Kambainallur village in Dharmapuri district of Tamil

Nadu.Archaeologists believe it could well be the

largest in the world.With a complicated network of

paths, labyrinths have been a fertility symbol

associated with many cultures. They represent a

unique pattern of consciousness and have been used

as meditation tool since the Neolithic period.

Ancient people used to worship labyrinths to be

blessed with a child, to attain success in their pursuits

and for long life for their cattle, experts say.“All the

rituals were in practice since the ancient period. Every

ritual followed today is just an extension of the

fertility cult in this region,“ said Sugavana Murugan,

who along with Sad hanandham Krishnakumar,

discovered the site a month ago. Even though it is

difficult to find one's way inside a labyrinth, it is

believed that those who come out through the right

path are blessed by the almighty , he said.

Soon after the discovery, the duo sent details with

pictures to Jeff Saward, a London-based expert in the

field of labyrinths and mazes, for his opinion. After

studying it in detail, Saward said, “The pattern is

exactly same as the one which is found on the clay

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10/6/2014 2,500-year-old labyrinth discovered in Dharmapuri

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tablet from Pylos in Greece, one of the oldest laby

rinths in clay found in the world.“

The labyrinths and mazes, according to Saward,

have been found to be in existence since the Neolithic

period. “Maze is a multi-curved category where we

have multiple pathways to reach our goal whereas in

labyrinths there is only one pathway which leads

inexorably to the goal from the point of entry,“ said

Saward, who is editor of `Caerdroia', the journal of

mazes and labyrinths.

This square labyrinth found in Kambainallur

contains seven paths. “This labyrinth has been under

worship from time immemorial. It was found among

cist burials, which has made it easy for archeologists

to predict its age,“ said Murugan, who is a member of

the Krishnagiri District Archaeological Research

Centre.

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10/6/2014 2,500-year-old labyrinth discovered in Dharmapuri

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