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Indian Charnockite

India

The 133-feet tall sculpture of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. The statue is made entirely of charnockite blocks.

The 133-feet tall sculpture of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. The statue is made entirely of charnockite blocks

Year designation

2024

Lithology

Orthopyroxene-bearing felsic ortho-granulites, with both granitic and tonalitic compositions

Aesthetics

Dark blue resembling smoky colours to greasy green colour in fresh exposures and tend to have a grey or light brown colour when altered

Geological settings

Wide spread in the high-grade terrains of southern India with age groups of Early- to Meso-Archaean to the north of Palghat–Cauvery shear zone and Neo-Proterozoic (related to Pan-African orogeny) to the south of the shear zone

Location

Pullukadu, Vengamala, Perumkadavila, Eripara, Malayankizh, Nedumkunnam, Achikonam, Mullanklavila, Thovala, Mylaudi, Subramanyapuram, Kuttalam

The 133-feet tall sculpture of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. The statue is made entirely of charnockite blocks

The common heritage stones of world-wide usage

Charnockite forms one of the rare stones, which has been named after a monument. The charnockite terminology proposed by Holland (1893) to the geological lexicon celebrated its Quasquicentennial Jubilee (125th year) in the year 2018. However, heritage made of charnockite is even far more ancient. Some renowned historical sites such as the group of monuments at Mahabalipuram (UNESCO world heritage site since 1984), Madura Meenakshi temple and Sri Padmanabha temple are Indian examples for ancient heritage made of charnockite. On the other hand, modern usage of charnockite in monument construction in southern India is depicted by Vivekananda and Thiruvalluvar memorials. Similarly, famous sculpture of Oscar Wilde in Ireland is one of the best examples of the usage of Indian charnockite in overseas monument construction in contemporary times. The sculptures and memorials made of charnockite in India are so exquisite that they are exported to countries like Japan, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, UK, USA, Africa, Australia etc. (GIJ, 2017).

Mesoscopic view of charnockite showing textural relationship of individual grains.

Mesoscopic view of charnockite showing textural relationship of individual grains

Various types of handicrafts and sculptures crafted from charnockite in India showing its contemporary use.

Various types of handicrafts and sculptures crafted from charnockite in India showing its contemporary use

  • Main publication

Sreejith, C., Del Lama, E.A., Gurmeet Kaur, 2021. Charnockite: a candidate for ‘Global Heritage Stone Resource’ designation from India. Episodes, 44(1), 19–29.

  • Author(s)

C. Sreejith. Department of Geology, MES Ponnani College, University of Calicut, Malappuram, Kerala 679586, India

csreejith@mespni.ac.in

Gurmeet Kaur. Department of Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India

gurmeetpu@pu.ac.in

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