Phase 5 work commences in Keezhadi

The work, aided by Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, beging carried out at a cost Rs 47 lakh would be completed in five to six months. After the work, an ‘on-site museum’ displaying all the artefacts would be set up, said Minister for Tamil Official Language and Culture K Pandiarajan.

The Minister inaugurated the proceedings at the site in the presence of G Baskaran, Minister for Khadi and Village Industries Board. While the four phases of excavation were executed by the state archaeology department in 2018, the fifth phase would be carried out with the aid from Centre’s Indian Institute of Geomagnetism. The excavation method would be on a par with proceedings at the archaeological site in Pattanam village in Kerala, where the work is carried out in collaboration with Oxford University at Rs 20 crore.

While 35 trenches have been dug so far, 15 more would be dug under the fifth phase. Speaking to the media, the minister said that the museum coming up the site would feature all the 13,638 artefacts unearthed so far.

It would also showcase antiquities such as urai kinaru (dry well structure), gold articles, beads, gold coins, copper coins and other copper objects, grinding stone, deer horn, iron and ivory items, terracotta, hammer, pendant, star symbol object, buttons and needles. He added that the tender has been floated to establish the museum on time.

Unearthing the ancient civilization at Keezhadi assumes greater historical significance. Keezhadi, which has the legacy of urbancivilisation in the days of yore, is Manamadurai’s crown jewel, he said.

The State government through the Textbook and Educational Services Corporation has set aside Rs 1 crore for the much awaited site museum, which would come up on one acre of land. School Education Department would soon make an announcement for students to visit such museums nearby. This will help the students to get an exposure to ‘history lab’ like how they get access to Physics and Chemistry labs. With a new method, carbon and fluorescent dating on samples collected from the site could be done and it’s not necessary to access California forexecuting these tasks, the minister added.

Currently, 7,818 artefacts unearthed during various phases of excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India are kept in Chennai and the remaining 5,820 artefacts are being maintained by the State government. As of now, 36 museums exist in various parts of Tamil Nadu and six more museums, including district museums in Theni and Tiruvannamalai, and site museums in Keezhadi, Adichanallur, Korkai and Alagapuram would be set up this year. Next, three more districts including Namakkal, Tiruppur and Perambalur would be equipped with museums.

Citing it as a golden period for the Archaeology, the minister said 12 forts would be renovated through Asian Development Bank funds at a cost of Rs 24 crore. As many as 5,500 people would attend World Tamil Conference to be held at Chicago behind a theme of ‘Keezhadi En Thaai Madi,’ mentioned Pandiarajan.