Archaeologist finds first evidence of rock art in form of footprints in Mangaluru city

Archaeologist finds first evidence of rock art in form of footprints in Mangaluru city

Sub : History

Sec: Art and Culture

Tags: Rock Art, Mangaluru city

Context:

• The first evidence of rock art in Mangaluru city has been found near Boloor Panne Koteda Babbu Swamy shrine.

Details of the discovery:

• The rock art is in the form of a pair of human footprints.
• Found on a natural stone boulder near the shrine.
• These footprints might have been created in the first or second century A.D.

Significance:

• Rock art refers to paintings and rock paintings, which were unquestionable cognitive evidence of illiterate societies.
• This discovery is part of the work of recreating the history of Babbu Swamy.
• This discovery gives a clue to search for similar art forms near other shrines of Babbu Swamy.
• Need further exploration to know the origin of Babbu Swamy, a revered legend of the region.

Babbu Swamy:

• In Tulunad (Karnataka), two types of Daivas are worshipped.
• One type is those Daivas who come to this land with the purpose of achieving some objective.
• The other kind of Daivas are those who are born in this world like humans and later on become Daivas. Babbu Swamy comes under this type.
• Babbu was born in Kemmannu, a small place near Udupi in a Dalith family.

Previous discoveries:

• A rock site in Buddhanajeddu in the Udupi district was discovered in 2009, an important rock art site near coastal Karnataka.
• The site has more than 20 footprints on the laterite surface, and it belonged to the first or second century A.D.
• There was evidence of pottery and stone tools of the Neolithic period at the Buddhanajeddu site.

Source: TH