Give it a go.....

Students from Rakiraki Public High school in the Ra Province made a visit to the ancient site at the Narara village where 12 stones sit hidden in the dense jungles of the range of mountains overlooking the cave that make up Nakauvadra in Ra.

The visit was made by the Geography students of Form five, six and seven on the 29th of October to which the students really enjoyed.

Caves with drawings sit below it which remains a mystery for the people of Narara Village.

They stand as monolithic reminders of an era the people of Narara are struggling to understand.

It takes about six hours on foot to get to these ancient monuments at the top of the range of mountains that make up Nakauvadra.

The stones sit in a rough circular formation on the very top of a steep mountain.

The dense jungle has overwhelmed the stones, blocking out the rays of the sun, and allowing a thick blanket of green lichen to coat them.

The students wants to discover the fact that one of the stones which stand like a Stonehenge shelters unusual drawings on the wall which looks unusual.

History depicts that Kemueli Penisoni, 60, was one of four men hunting for pigs who discovered the caves about 30 years ago.

One of the caves had unusual writing on the wall. Monuments and drawings are important for the people of the country. It captured my imagination especially the fact that they were not scratched on the wall but appeared to be chiseled into it.The significance of the east for the ancient people is that it is the front of the Earth where the day and night begin, and also it depicts the rising of the sun and moon.While Stonehenge is one of the most famous sites in the world - earthworks surrounding a circles of large standing stones at the centre of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds - the stones of Narara are a mystery.

The cave faces the 12 stones hidden high up in the mountains thus the Narara site is believed to be an ancient worship plateau dedicated to the oldest religion in the world, which is the worship of nature by the ancient Gods.

The indigenous inhabitants probably chose the site for its height, with its panoramic view of their world, especially the eastern seaboard.

The Narara cult would have been prominent in its day as the mount of the gods. Its seclusion, non-accessibility and panoramic view denote its role as the place from which the gods bless the whole of Fiji.

At the foot of the mountain would probably reside the various social groups that define their culture in terms of the cults.

Visiting worshippers from the whole of Fiji would probably present their gifts at that point, so Narara would have been a very busy commercial centre with travelers coming from faraway places.

The discovery of the cult is a cultural heritage of immense importance as it ridicules history enforced from colonial times. What about Fiji's hidden history waiting to be discovered?

Alita Silimi,aged 17 a form six student at the school said that the cave have been overtly reminded by our cannibal and war past, but Narara speaks to us of another rich and undiscovered culture that time can no longer hold in bondage.

It wants to be heard and speak to this generation. We can learn from Narara as time is not yet up.

The students found out that the 12 stones arranged in a circular formation depicts the 12 complete cycles of the full moon from one harvest to the next.

Usually, upon the completion of the 12 full moons, the harvest had not been reached probably by a week, days or hours and the normal practice was to add on another moon, the 13th.

Through the students reaserach and findings they found out that Stonehenge was erected around 2500 BC, and new archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge Riverside Project indicates that Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings.

The dating of cremated remains found on the Narara cave site shows that burials took place there as early as 3000 BC, when the initial ditch and bank were first dug.

 For now, the stones and caves sit silently as reminders of an ancient past.The students find that at the mouth of the cave, a little streams flow by it and remains of cooking spot are found at the opening of the cave which shows that humans have been living in the cave for the past thousand years.