Nearly 1,000 Tolkien-esque megalithic chambers dot southern India's "Hill of the Dwarfs", and locals believe they were created by a supernatural race of "small people".

At first glance, Hire Benkal might be mistaken for any other village nestled in Karnataka's lush interior. Surrounded by rocky hillocks, mango groves, small brick kilns and fields fed by a nearby canal, it exudes a languid, laid-back charm characteristic of rural South India.

However, a 90-minute hike up one of the ridges flanking the village brought me to Moryar Gudda, or the "Hill of the Dwarfs", as its name means in the local Kannada language. Here, scattered across a granite-strewn plateau were nearly 1,000 prehistoric megalithic structures that have stood for more than 2,500 years. It's a startling sight: nearly as far as the eye can see, rows of giant stone chambers resembling houses and stone circles stretch across the landscape, forming one of the oldest and largest necropolises in India.

The trek felt like stepping into a Tolkien tale. Massive boulders teetered precariously on top of one another, creating natural sculptures that seemed on the verge of tipping over at any moment but have somehow stood firm for millennia. Some formations housed rock shelters with red ochre paintings dating from 700-500 BCE, many still vivid with scenes of creatures resembling cattle and boar whose meanings have long been lost to time.

Historians believe the formations were created as an ancient burial or commemorative site. However, its exact purpose remains a mystery.

Stonehenge may be the world's most famous megalithic monument, but tens of thousands of other such sites are scattered across the planet. While Europe counts more than 35,000 of these prehistoric constructions, only 3,000 or so have been documented in India. But by coming face to face with Hire Benkal's ancient, enigmatic structures and the painted scenes of battle axe-wielding horseback riders, spear-clutching hunters, and deified deer, peacocks and other animals, adventurous travellers can get a sense of how early Indian societies lived, worshipped and were laid to rest.

The Hire Benkal archaeological site spans roughly 20 hectares, with an east-west orientation that suggests ceremonial or astronomical significance. Dominating the landscape are giant rectangular megalithic tombs with large capstones and side walls, known as dolmen. Many of the larger dolmen are clustered around a wide, shallow water basin at the top of the hill. Experts believe this basin likely began as a natural rock pool and may have been expanded over time as ancient Indians quarried to construct additional megaliths.

That morning, white and pink water lilies floated in bloom across the small pond, evoking the delicate beauty of a Monet painting.

"It must have been a very important site for several centuries because it cannot have all been done in one time," said Srikumar Menon, an architect and........

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