 | ||
Khondalite is a foliated metamorphic rock. It is also called Bezwada Gneiss and Kailasa Gneiss. It was named after the Khond tribe of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh because well-formed examples of the rock were found in the inhabited hills of these regions of eastern India.
Contents
Distribution
Khondalite is found in the Eastern Ghats between Vijayawada and Cuttack in India. but the term khondalite is also used to describe other rocks of similar composition found elsewhere in India as well as in Burma, Sri Lanka and the Inner Mongolia region of China.
Composition
Khondalite is quartz–manganese-rich garnet–rhodonite schist. It may also contain sillimanite and graphite. Feldspar may occur in some cases.
Formation
Khondalites are considered to be metasedimentary rocks. According to Lewis Leigh Fermor, these rocks and the related charnockite were formed when the Eastern Ghat belt was faulted and buried. It was uplifted later, bringing these metamorphic rocks to the surface.
Use
Khondalites weather easily but still have been used in buildings and temples, for example, the Konark Sun Temple and Jagannath Temple.