Experts and environmentalists have expressed concern about the proposed location of a mega oil refinery in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district’s Barsu village.
Geoglyphs
- Geoglyphs are a form of prehistoric rock art, created on the surface of laterite plateaus.
- They are made by removing a part of the rock surface through an incision, picking, carving or abrading.
- They can be in the form of rock paintings, etchings, cup marks and ring marks.
Ratnagiri’s geoglyphs
- Geoglyph clusters cover approximately 900 kilometers of the Konkan coastline in Maharashtra and Goa.
- Porous laterite rock, which lends itself to such carving, can be found in abundance throughout the region.
- The Ratnagiri district has over 1,500 pieces of this art, also known as “Katal Shilpa,” spread across 70 sites.
- Humans and animals such as deer, elephants, tigers, monkeys, wild boars, rhinoceros, hippopotami, cattle, pigs, rabbits, and monkeys are depicted in the geoglyphs.
- They also include a large number of reptilian and amphibian creatures like tortoises and alligators, as well as aquatic animals like sharks and sting rays and birds like peacocks.
Why are they significant?
- Ratnagiri’s prehistoric sites are one of three Indian attractions that could soon become World Heritage Sites. Jingkieng Jri, a living root bridge in Meghalaya, and Sri Veerabhadra Temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Lepakshi are the other two.
- The geoglyph clusters are also examples of advanced artistic skills, demonstrating the evolution of etching and scooping techniques in rock art.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-culture/ratnagiri-geoglyphs-8344954/