PLOUGH IN ROCK ART DISCOVERED

SAMYUKTHA AMITHAV

In 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.
 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 of Melumalai range in Chinna
Kothur of Veppanapalli union in Krishnagiri District. The trios discovered the said
rock art in a cave shelter near a well-known megalithic site of burial monuments.
 In the outer portion of the cave shelter, there are three sceneries one, about
the 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 stanzas
on ploughing called Er Elubathu.
 Plough practiced through kallappai-Mezhi is widely used in Tamil inscriptions as
Chitramehzi. A Farmer’s guild called them as chitramezhi periya nattar. The word
Chitrmezhi especially means the icon of ploughing, which is picture in the rock art so
early. However, a Hero stone-pulikutthi pattin kal inscription of the Rajendra Chola-
I (1040 AD) from Anusonai in Krishnagiri district shows a man attacked a tiger and
dead at the time of Er 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.