New analyses of a garnet-clinopyroxene rock (‘eclogite’) and its constituent minerals from the Sittampundi complex of India are presented. The rock has a composition comparable with an alkali-poor tholeiite and this composition, as well as the garnet (Py 51·5 %; Alm 32·7 %) and pyroxene (Jd 7·4 %; Ts 10·8 %) are very similar to those from South Harris.

The apparent distribution coefficient (K′_Fe/Mg) for the garnet-clinopyroxene pair suggests a temperature of equilibration near 850 °C. Projection of the experimental data of Green and Ringwood 1967) down to this temperature suggests a pressure of about 7–8 kb. This is well below the pressure of the granulite-eclogite transition.