Meghalaya govt to promote Monolith Heritage site at Mawkyrduk

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SHILLONG | Feb 24:

The Meghalaya Government has decided working towards promoting the Monolith Heritage site at Mawkyrduk area in Mawkyrwat, South West Khasi Hills with an aim to showcase the cultural heritage of the state to the world.

This was informed by Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma today during his visit to the Monolith Heritage Site to witness first hand the cultural beauty of this place.

The chief minister was in awe of the similarity this site has with the Stonehenge in the UK stating "I think this place has a lot of heritage to it and must be promoted and developed and the world must see the kind of beauty that this place has."

The project to protect and retain the Monolith Heritage site at Mawkyrduk was taken up by the Arts and Culture Department in the year 2011-12 at an estimated cost of Rs 8 lakh.

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It may be mentioned that Meghalaya is home to a varied types of monoliths and megaliths spread across the state with the most talked about sites being located at Nartiang in Jaintia Hills and Mawkyrduk in SWKH.

Few years ago, archaeologist Marco Mitri and a team of academicians from the North Eastern Hills University excavated the archaeological site near Lummawbuh village in the northern slopes of Sohpetbneng (heaven's naval) peak near the NH-40 and found megalithic stone structures, and iron implements which dates back to the prehistoric period in the ridge spreading over 1.5 km.

The megalithic structures are used in the traditional mortuary practice which was popular among the tribesmen till a few decades ago