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.
