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Concept

Monolith

A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological formations, which are often made of very hard and solid igneous or metamorphic rock. Some monoliths are volcanic plugs, solidified lava filling the vent of an extinct volcano. In architecture, the term has considerable overlap with megalith, which is normally used for prehistory, and may be used in the contexts of rock-cut architecture that remains attached to solid rock, as in monolithic church, or for exceptionally large stones such as obelisks, statues, monolithic columns or large architraves, that may have been moved a considerable distance after quarrying. It may also be used of large glacial erratics moved by natural forces. The word derives, via the Latin monolithus, from the Ancient Greek word μονόλιθος (), from μόνος () meaning "one" or "single" and λίθος () meaning "stone". Large, well-known monoliths include: Aso Rock, Nigeria Ben Amera, Mauritania Brandberg Mountain, Namibia Sibebe, Eswatini Zuma Rock, Nigeria Mount Lubiri, Angola Mount Poi, Kenya Great Sphinx of Giza Scullin monolith Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India Bellary Fort, Bellary, India Bhongir, Telangana, India Madhugiri Betta, Karnataka, India Kailasa temple, Ellora. Maharashtra, India Namakkal Fort Namakkal , Tamilnadu India, Mount Kelam, Indonesia Mount Pico de Loro, Philippines Mount Pulumbato, Philippines Sangla Hill, Pakistan Savandurga, Karnataka, India Sigiriya, Sri Lanka Yana, Karnataka, India Gilbert Hill, Mumbai, India Rockfort, Trichy, India The Tsunami Penile Monument, Malé, Maldives Ekasila, Warangal, India Bald Rock, near Tenterfield, New South Wales Mount Augustus (Burringurrah), Western Australia (NOTE: this is not actually monolith as popularly claimed, but rather a monocline) Mount Coolum, Queensland Mount Wudinna, South Australia Pine Mountain, Victoria Uluru, Northern Territory Kalamos, Anafi, Greece Katskhi pillar, Georgia Levski G.

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Related concepts (7)
Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge and derives from the Ancient Greek words "mega" for great and "lithos" for stone. Most extant megaliths were erected between the Neolithic period (although earlier Mesolithic examples are known) through the Chalcolithic period and into the Bronze Age.
Gommateshwara statue
The Gommateshwara statue is a high monolithic statue on Vindhyagiri Hill in the town of Shravanbelagola in the Indian state of Karnataka. Carved of a single block of granite, it is one of the tallest monolithic statues in the ancient world. The Gommateshwara statue is dedicated to the Jain figure Bahubali and symbolises the Jain precepts of peace, non-violence, sacrifice of worldly affairs, and simple living. It was built around 983 CE during the Western Ganga dynasty and is one of the largest free-standing statues in the world.
Stele
A stele (ˈstiːli ), or occasionally stela (plural stelas or stelæ), when derived from Latin, is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in the ancient world as a monument. The surface of the stele often has text, ornamentation, or both. These may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted. Stelae were created for many reasons. Grave stelae were used for funerary or commemorative purposes. Stelae as slabs of stone would also be used as ancient Greek and Roman government notices or as boundary markers to mark borders or property lines.
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