By Barnes Mawri
“The existence of giants is found in every human civilization. If we go through the ancient writings of many great civilizations, be it the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Indians etc, we will come across stories of giants or humans with superhuman strength. The Bible itself has references to such persons.”
Whenever I visit the Nartiang monolith park or when I behold mighty monoliths and trioliths in different parts of Khasi-Jaiñtia Hills, I often ask myself, “how did our ancestors manage to erect such mighty stone monuments in those days when there was no technology to transport such heavy loads?” Those who have visited Nartiang will notice hundreds of monoliths all located in one place and some of these are among the tallest monoliths in the world. The tallest of them measures 8 meters in height. To answer the question above, there is an ancient traditional belief that our ancestors had a very close relationship with Mother Nature and thus they could communicate with her. They would speak to a stone boulder and request it to enable them to transport it to a location they wanted. It is said that the stone would make itself light so that the humans could drag it with only a pumpkin creeper stem (thning pathaw). Many Khasis tend to believe such an explanation knowing the fact that our ancestors were very close to Mother Nature.
However, there are many other Khasi scholars who believe otherwise. I for one, would prefer an alternative explanation to the one proposed above since it sounds too unscientific. This brings me to the argument that all our stone monoliths and trioliths were the handiwork of giants (ramhah) who we believe existed in these lands once upon a time. There are many arguments I am inclined to offer here to support this claim.
First of all, the existence of giants is found in every human civilization. If we go through the ancient writings of many great civilizations, be it the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Indians etc, we will come across stories of giants or humans with superhuman strength. The Bible itself has references to such persons. The book of Genesis gives accounts of the nephilims (giants) who existed before and after the deluge. Again in the book of Numbers 13:33 we read how the Jewish spies reported to Joshua saying “and there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” We have a famous giant in the Bible whose name was Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, who was later knocked down by David’s sling stone (1 Samuel 17).
In Greco-Roman mythology we read of the gigantes (giants) who fought against the Olympian gods. In the myth of Perseus we come across the one-eyed giants known as Cyclops who forged the instruments of the gods. In Indian mythology we have giants known as daityas who also fought against the gods. In the Basque region of Spain we have ancient stories of giants called Jentils. Geoffrey of Monmouth, who in circa 1136 wrote Historia Regnum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain), describes how early Britain was inhabited by giants and the last surviving giant was called Gogmagog. The popular British fairy tale of Jack the Giant Killer which was published in 1711 tells of the existence of giants in a land beyond the clouds. If every civilization on earth has myths and stories about the existence of giants, by logical conclusion we may say with great certainty that they did exist.
I am convinced that in keeping with evolution, humans who existed in the pre-historic era had less developed brains but greater physical strength. This was essential as they had no technology but their brute strength to defend themselves against huge and ferocious wild animals. It would not be surprising that humans with extraordinary physical powers whom we might call giants, did exist then. Therefore, the claim that giants existed in Khasi-Jaiñtia Hills in ancient days, is not a fanciful idea but it could be a historical truth.
In Khasi mythology we have accounts of giants (ramhah). For example, we have the story of U Ramhah who used to carry a huge cane basket. The people of the village had to feed him every day for fear of his wrath. When they realized that it was too expensive to feed him for the amount he required, they concocted a plan to dispose of him. So they grounded fine glass pieces in his food and gave him. The giant ate the meal and died thereafter. Tradition says that the huge singular rock below Mawsmai popularly known as Khoh Ramhah, was his carrying basket petrified for centuries. Then we have the well-known myth of U Adadak and his companions. U Adadak was definitely a giant who possessed great physical strength. He had three giant companions, namely, U Puh-shilum (one who could dig a huge mountain of mud with one strike of his spade), U Khwai-shynreh (one who could pull up a huge mass of materials with his hands) and U Kynting-mawsan (one who could pick up huge boulders and toss them in the air like pebbles). These four persons were undoubtedly giants by every definition
There is yet another undeniable fact of the existence of giants which is proven by the presence of huge footprints on stones in different parts of our land. I for one have seen two such footprints, one in Lum Sohpetbneng and the other on a big boulder on the roadside from Umpling to Itshyrwat. Unfortunately, we are known as people who lack a sense of history and so these footprints have never been preserved and they are lost for good. I am sure there may be some giant footprints in some parts of our state. Can the State Museum not take up the task of preserving them in the museums? Tradition in Nartiang says that it was Luh Lyngshkor Lamare a giant, who actually carried a huge flat stone from Raliang using it as an umbrella to shield himself from the rain and then planted it in Nartiang. Another tradition says that most of the monoliths in Nartiang were erected between 1500 and 1835 by U Marphalyngki (a trusted lieutenant of the Jaiñtia King) and his friend U Luh Lyngshkor Lamare. Probably most of the huge stone monuments which are found in every part of Khasi-Jaiñtia Hills, were erected by giants who existed in those days. It would be an interesting study for Khasi scholars to delve deep into the Khasi mythology of giants as well as study the physical evidence of their existence.
“Olympian gods. In the myth of Perseus we come across the one-eyed giants known as Cyclops who forged the instruments of the gods. In Indian mythology we have giants known as daityas who also fought against the gods. In the Basque region of Spain we have ancient stories of giants called Jentils.”