12 forts to be renovated at Rs 24 cr: Minister

Delivering his reply on the demand on grants for Art and Culture, Museums and Archaeology Department, the Minister said, “Around 12 significant forts in the State including Panchalankurichi fort would be renovated at the cost of Rs 24 crore, in this current year. The works will be carried out in association with world class institutions.”

He also asserted that Keezhadi archaeological excavation is widely noticed and appreciated across the world. “When we as a team went to Chicago to participate at the World Tamil Conference, we were highly appreciated and more than 4,000 people in the entire hall applauded us because of the significant achievement in Keezhadi. The artifacts unearthed in Keezhadi shows similarity to that of Harappan civilization, urbanisation prevailed in Keezhadi too and the artifacts prove that the artifacts are 600 years older than Harappa were unearthed in Keezhadi,” said Minister.

He further said that Tamil culture is much older than people think. “When Ottapidaram MLA, Shanmugiah, spoke he referred to Tamil culture and language as 10,000 years old but there are proofs from Adhirambakkam archaeological site, in Tiruvallur district, that Tamil culture dates back to 3.75 lakh years. Using techniques like fluorescence dating methods, the exact dates of the artifacts were calculated,” said Pandiarajan.

He went on to say that Tamil Nadu is one of the leading states in which large number of artifacts were unearthed. “Last year, 1307 artifacts were unearthed in the state, mainly from Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts. State government is taking steps to obtain Geographical Indication (GI) tag for seven crafts that are uniquely found in various parts of the state,” said the Minister.

The dinosaur park in Ariyalur had been completed and would be inaugurated in the coming week, said Pandiarajan.