Though Kerala Tourism has launched a ₹2.9-crore project to improve civic amenities around Edakkal caves in Wayanad, steps for conserving petroglyphs (rock engravings) on the walls of a slanted rock on Thovarimala hills in Nenmeni grama panchayat, believed to date back to the Neolithic period, still remains on paper.
Nenmeni grama panchayat had planned to develop a tourism corridor by connecting the nearby Edakkal caves, Govindamoola Chira, a small lake on the foothills of the cave, and Thovarimala as a part of conserving petroglyphs. The project is yet to take off, thanks to technical issues.
Since the site is under the Mepadi forest range of the South Wayanad Forest Division, the civic body cannot execute any project there without prior permission from the Forest department, Tigi Cheruthottil, vice president, Nenmeni grama panchayat, told The Hindu.
“However, we will go ahead with the project to conserve the pre-historic engravings,” Mr. Cheruthottil said.
There are more than 50 neolithic engravings on the rock walls, many resembling the rock carvings of Edakkal, but many of them were reportedly disfigured by miscreants. However, motifs such as geometrical signs, fertility, arrow, and star symbols still surpass the passage of time.
Former Wayanad District Collector Kesavendrakumar visited the site in 2015 and took steps to conserve the engravings. He directed the Archaeology department to declare the site a protected monument. His successor S. Suhas in 2018 had directed the Deputy Tourism Director to develop the site as a major ecotourism destination in the district to conserve the ancient monument. However, the conservation work is yet to materialise. ‘
According to historian M.R. Raghava Varier, the engravings in Edakkal and Thovari have huge historical significance and should be conserved for future generations.
Dr. Varier, who has done extensive research on the historical sites of Wayanad, said the rock engravings at Thovari were similar to those at Edakkal in the style of depiction but different in content.
