Stonehenge Rocks!

England was always one of my dream destinations. The royal castles, meadows of the countryside, the English pubs, Gothic cathedrals, historic monuments, medieval towns and the Stonehenge were some of the attractions I always wanted to see.

During my third visit to London in the year 2006, I had visited my old friend Joseph who was living in London. Joseph was a connoisseur of wines. He had offered me a collection of choicest French wines and single malt scotch whiskeys. We sat in the neatly laid out lawn in the backyard of his house with glasses of vintage wine and nostalgic memories of our college days. He set the fire up the grill of the barbecue and started grilling pieces of marinated tender beef.

When I had listed out my priorities to visit, he promised that he would take me to the Stonehenge. We had decided to drive to the Stonehenge and to the medieval city of Salisbury. He told me “You can also enjoy the rural landscape of Britain on our way to the Stonehenge”.

Stonehenge is one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world. UNESCO classified it as one of the “World Heritage Sites”. It is located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 8 miles north of Salisbury city.

The trip to Stonehenge

When we started our journey by car from the county of Middlesex, the sky was cloudy with the possibility of rain in the afternoon. Within five minutes of leaving the city we could see vast green meadows sprinkled with bushes and trees. It was lush greenery all around.  In fact I strongly feel that the breathtaking beauty of the English countryside must be included as one of the major attractions of Britain. After a few more miles, the landscape slowly changed to golden yellow barley fields and brownish fields of ripe wheat. Our drive through the meadows and grain fields was refreshingly invigorating.

When we reached the Stonehenge, slight drizzle has started. We bought cheap plastic rain jackets from the souvenir shop before going near the Stonehenge. Stonehenge is nothing but an arrangement of huge standing stones in a circular form. 

It was an awe-inspiring sight when I stood in front of the ancient stone circle. The Stonehenge was believed to have been built before 5000 years. Each stone would have weighed at least four tons (the largest one weighing nearly 50 tons). Bringing the stones and assembling here would have been a superhuman task, considering the fact that the stones have come from nearly 250 miles away from the Wales Mountains.

Moreover, the purpose of assembling this stone circle still remains a mystery. There are so many theories circulating about the origin and objective of such a massive monument. Many such theories attribute supernatural powers to the Stonehenge.

Every year on the summer solstice day in June and the winter solstice day in December, thousands of people led by Stonehenge druids assemble there for the Stonehenge festival by performing pagan rituals.

The theories behind the Stonehenge

Some of the interesting theories are as follows:

• A sacred burial site of the ancient Britons
• Religious monument of the ancient Celts, who worshiped sun.
• Communication link with the heaven and the underworld
• Bronze age astronomical observatory aligned with the lunar cycles
• Extraterrestrial landing site for UFOs also serve as a communication radar with the inter-galactic alien civilizations

The radio carbon dating done on the construction site itself revealed that the building the site was started around the year 3100 BC and ended around the year 1600 BC. The theories about the Stonehenge are broadly divided into three - it was a religious monument or an ancient scientific observatory or a site with extraterrestrial connection.

One of the reasons why the Stonehenge has so much of appeal is the mystery surrounding it. Whatever be the purpose behind it, the mystique of Stonehenge transcends religious, supernatural or scientific views of the monument.

Before leaving the place I bought a souvenir T-Shirt for my son. The slogan printed on the T-shirt was “Stonehenge Rocks!”

Yes it really rocks.