Kong Posh: My Visit to Stonehenge

Sham S.Misri

(From London)

I along with my wife Sarla, daughter Sanjla, her husband Sumit and grand children Shiva and Shanky visited The English Heritage, Stonehenge on 6^th April, 2012. We commuted the distance by car. It is Located towards Southern England. Stonehenge is a wonder of ancient achievement and a symbol of mystery, power and patience. Its original purpose is unknown, but some have speculated that it was a temple made for the worship of ancient earth deities. Some people are of the opinion that it was an astronomical observatory, while there are some who say that it was a sacred site for the burial of high-ranking citizens from the societies of long ago.

The first Stonehenge was simple, just a circular ditch and was constructed about 5,000 years ago. It is believed that the ditch was dug with tools made from the antlers of red deer and, possibly, wood. The underlying chalk was loosened with picks and shovelled with the shoulder blades of cattle. It was then loaded into baskets and carried away.

By about 2,500 B.C. timber structure was built which rotted away. Then, huge stones came from Wales. The bluestones weigh up to 4 tons each and about 80 stones were used, in all. The giant stones which form the outer circle, weigh as much as 50 tons each. To transport them would have been a problem of greater magnitude.

Stonehenge was the greatest temple in Britain. Its banks, ditches and standing stones arranged in sophisticated alignments to mark the passage of the sun and the changing seasons.

Many of the original stones have fallen or been removed for home construction or road repair. The construction of Stonehenge has been an impressive engineering feat, requiring time and manual labour. It seems that the Stonehenge site was begun by the people of the late Neolithic period (around 3000 BC) and carried forward by people from time to time.

We were told about the legend of Stonehenge. A twelfth century writer, Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his History of the Kings of Britain, that Merlin brought the stones to Ireland. It was sometime in the fifth century, there had been a massacre of 300 British noblemen by the treacherous Saxon leader, Hengest. Geoffrey tells that the high king, Aurelius Ambrosius, wanted to create a fitting memorial to the slain men. Merlin suggested an expedition to Ireland for the purpose of transplanting the Giant's Ring stone circle to Britain. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, the stones of the Giant's Ring were originally brought from Africa to Ireland by giants (who else but giants could handle the job?). The stones were located on "Mount Killaraus" and were used as a site for performing rituals and for healing. Led by King Uther and Merlin, the expedition arrived at the spot in Ireland. The Britons, none of whom were giants, apparently, were unsuccessful in their attempts to move the great stones. At this point, Merlin realized that only his magic arts would turn the trick. So, they were dismantled and shipped back to Britain where they were set up as they had been before, in a great circle, around the mass grave of the murdered noblemen. The story goes on to tell that Aurelius, Uther and Arthur's successor, Constantine were also buried there in their time*.

Present Day Stonehenge is situated in a vast plain, surrounded by hundreds of burial mounds. The Stonehenge site is truly impressive. It is a place where much human effort was spent for a purpose we can only guess at. Some people see it as a place in magic and mystery, some as a place where their imaginations of the past, while others hold it to be a sacred place. Whatever its original purpose was, it is a place of honour.

A highway runs nearly 300 feet away from the stones, and a commercial circus has sprung up around it. There are parking lots, gift shops and ice cream stands nearby. Stonehenge is an awe-inspiring sight, and no travel itinerary around Britain should omit it.