MANUAL OF THE NILAGIRI DISTRICT. 239 



A number of old Azarams had been opened. They contain CHAP. x. 

 exactly what an acquaintance with Toda customs of the present . 



A.NTI0UITIK3 



day would lead one to expect. The only difference being that it 



seems formerly to have been the custom to bury bracelets and -A^z^rams. 

 other valuables with the ashes, instead of withdrawing them when 

 the burning has taken place as is now done. 



These old Azdrams supply one link in the chain which should 

 connect the cairns with the modern ones, but many links are still 

 missing, and it is impossible to assign the cairns and barrows to 

 the Todas on existing data, though they perhaps have a better 

 claim to them than either of the other Hill tribes. Against this 

 is to be set the fact that the Todas do not generally claim them, 

 and that they look on calmly at their spoliation, though they never 

 seem to rifle them themselves.^ 



These terms are applied to monuments something like Kist- Cromlechs or 

 vaens, but above ground. They are formed of stone slabs enclosing l^olmens. 

 a chamber, but open at one side, or in some cases only of two 

 upright slabs with another resting tablewise upon them. They 

 generally occur in groups in low-lying, secluded spots, and do not 

 appear to have any connection with the cairns and barrows, 

 although those with unsculptured stones may belong to the same 

 period. The sculptured ones are probably more modern. In 

 many respects they recall Buddhist reliquaries, ^ though the 

 carvings resemble those of the Lingayats in Mysore, and the 

 subjects are almost identical with some which are found in similar 

 monuments in that kingdom. It is quite possible, however, that 

 the carvings were executed long after the cromlechs were built. 

 The principal groups are as follow : — 



(1.) Sholur. The cromlechs here have carvings on the side —groups, 

 stones which, though rough in execution, deserve to be 

 fully described if only for the sake of comparison with 

 those described by Mr. Eice in his Manual of Coorg 

 and Mysore. The slabs are divided into compartments 

 by a raised line which forms a kind of frame to each 

 picture, and is on a level with the figures in bas-relief. 

 In the upper compartment of one stone, the central 

 figure is a Basava, or sacred bull of Siva, kneeling 

 before a kind of altar on which is a rude representation 

 of a lingam. Behind the bull is a human figure, 

 probably meant for the piijdri. The rest of the stone 

 is divided into compartments containing figures of men. 



• The Todas are moreover said to lay claim to some of the cairns. See 

 Breaks. 



The Buddhist reform altered the funeral tumulus into a relic shrine, 

 modifying this, as it did most of the Turanian forms of utterance, from a literal to 

 a somewhat more spiritual form of expression, but leaving the meaning the 

 Bame."— Feegusson's History of Arch., p. 51. 



