Paliya

The Paliya or Khambhi is a type of a memorial found in the western regions of the India subcontinent, especially Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat and also in Sindh region of Pakistan. They mostly commemorate the death of a person. These stone monuments have symbols and inscriptions.^[1] There are several types of memorials including dedicated to warriors (mostly Charanas), sailors, sati, animals and figures associated with folklore.^[2] They are important in ethnography and epigraphy.^{[citation needed]}

Those dedicated to warriors fall under the term hero stone, of which examples are found all over India.

^ THAKURIA, T. (2008). MEMORIAL STONES FROM GUJARAT: STUDY OF PĀLIYAS AT KANMER. Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute, 68/69, 179-190. Retrieved from JSTOR
^ Gujarat (India) (1975). Gujarat State Gazetteers: Junagadh. Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications, Gujarat State. Numerous scattered memorial stones and paliyas suggest that the Charans preferred death to dishonour, and that even women did not hesitate to kill themselves when the honour of the family or the community was at stake.

[js-1] THAKURIA, T. (2008). MEMORIAL STONES FROM GUJARAT: STUDY OF PĀLIYAS AT KANMER. Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute, 68/69, 179-190. Retrieved from JSTOR

[2] Gujarat (India) (1975). Gujarat State Gazetteers: Junagadh. Directorate of Government Print., Stationery and Publications, Gujarat State. Numerous scattered memorial stones and paliyas suggest that the Charans preferred death to dishonour, and that even women did not hesitate to kill themselves when the honour of the family or the community was at stake.

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