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PLOUGH IN ROCK ART DISCOVERED

SAMYUKTHA AMITHAVIn Neolithic period, agriculture was widespread; the ancient man rapidly

learned the art of ploughing and implemented it in the fields.Ploughing tools were

depicted in pictures available all over world. They found to contain rock art. A man

ploughing a field in the wall painting from the tomb of Nakht at Thebes, Egypt

(1420 BC), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NewYork preserved these rare and

unique paintings.

Egyptian pyramid painting

For the past 7000 years, the Chinese practiced paddy cultivation with modern

technology and developed equipments from time to time. It was something wonders

that they used the seed sowing tools even before 2000 years.

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Some of the countries used various animals in agriculture. For instance,The Greeks used antelopes, the Chinese used buffaloes and some other animals.

A farmer ploughing a land was carved in a bas-relief tablet was shown beautifully

in Borapudur Buddha temple.

Arabian rock painting

In Southern India, improved technological tools developed Agriculture during

the time of early Iron Age. Recently, a rock art related to ploughing was discovered

by a archeological team in Krishnagiri comprising of Sukavana Murukan, Krishna

Kumar and Veeramani , Pennar Archeological Forum, Kaveripattinam. They found

these rock art paintings in a shelter at Melpallam ofMelumalai range in Chinna

Kothur ofVeppanapalli union in Krishnagiri District. The trios discovered the saidrock art in a cave shelter near a well-known megalithic site of burial monuments.

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In the outer portion of the cave shelter, there are three sceneries one, aboutthe plough; next, the hunting scene; the last about the symbols yet to be identified.

The animals in the art are bullocks, tiger and horse. In the inner region, a dancing

party celebrated to share their hunting.

On Ploughing, verses are available from the Sangam literature for the past

2000 years of the ancient Tamils. Ivanam- a variety of paddy cultivated in the hilly

sides. One who found a separate chapter for Uzavu in Tirukural, Valluvar gave how

much importance to agriculture! The great epic poet Kamban wrote seventy stanzason ploughing called Er Elubathu.

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Plough practiced through kallappai-Mezhi is widely used in Tamil inscriptions as

Chitramehzi. A Farmers guild called them as chitramezhi periya nattar. The wordChitrmezhi especially means the icon of ploughing, which is picture in the rock art so

early. However, a Hero stone-pulikutthi pattin kalinscription of the Rajendra Chola-

I (1040 AD) from Anusonai in Krishnagiri district shows a man attacked a tiger and

dead at the time ofEr pani (ploughing duty) in a temple. This rock art seems to be

such one occasion.

There are some similarities in all these pictures. They followed the same method

in the fields. Even after the advent of modern technology and new equipments such

as tillers and tractors, a small piece of land Kalappai used to plough.