Keezhadi in TN could soon get open museum

Keezhadi, a small village in the Sivaganga district in Tamil Nadu, will soon emerge as one of the world’s best historic destinations. The village is not famous for beautiful scenery with mountains, flower gardens, waterfalls or river. Keezhadi, which has a population of a few hundred people, was not even known to most people until the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) made a major excavation and found the remains of an ancient urban civilisation, equal in size and similar to that of Mohenjodaro.

Though the ASI started exploration at more than 250 sites along the Vaigai river valley in Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts a few years ago as part of its regular work, the findings of carbon dating of charcoal found at the Keezhadi site a few months back revealed that the settlement dated back to 200 BC.

As the focus of the ASI team and the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department shifted to Keezhadi and unearthing hundreds of historic antiquities in that area, the demand for making the historic open site museum on a par with Harappa and Mohenjodaro has increased.

With Union Minister Mahesh Sharma informing the Rajya Sabha that ASI’s findings indicated that Keezhadi site was of Sangam era, the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department has already provided 78 cents of land for excavations besides promising to allot two acres of land.

“Another two acres will be given to the ASI, to excavate further deep about four metres to know the exact type of settlement whether it was urban or industrial,” Ramesh Kumar, a senior official of the archaeological department, said.

According to him, more than 3,000 antiquities dating back to the early Sangam age were unearthed during the two phases of excavation. “More than 100 villages were covered in the survey,” he added.

Excavated materials include brick structures, industry-like furnaces, iron tools, intricate jewellery and pottery with Tamil Brahmi script. In addition, stone dices, chess coins, jagged chunks of precious gems, which were once worn by both men and women, iron knives and even carvings made from tusk were unearthed.

Ramesh Kumar said more vital information could be available if further excavations were carried out. The Tamil Nadu government also took measures to communicate to the Union Government that the chemical test of the artefacts to be done in the site area only instead of shifting to other regions.

In addition, the authorities also asked the Centre to convert the Keezhadi site into an open site museum so that it could become a famous tourist spot. “The ASI has more than 40 museums across the country and if it constructs one at Keezhadi, it will be the biggest one,” Govardhan, a heritage enthusiast, working in state statistical department, claimed.

Justice M M Sundresh and Justice N Sathish Kumar of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, who were hearing a PIL in connection with Keezhadi issue, have got a detailed report about the progress made thus far in the excavation, which is being carried out since 2015 at the site, the various types of artefacts found and the measures taken by the ASI for excavation, data analysis and preservation of the findings.

Petitioner Kanimozhi, in her plea, claimed the artefacts were not kept in safe environment and they might get damaged due to heavy rain as the southwest monsoon is vigorous over the region. The advocate also claimed that the artefacts were also not kept in a protected environment, as she found them covered with just plastic sheets near the site. So far ASI officials had not taken steps to shift the artefacts to the museum at Sivaganga, she added.

The court also advised ASI officials to take steps to protect the trenches under excavation and to keep them open for people to visit and learn from them. The judges said that police personnel should be appointed to be stationed permanently at the site. P S Sirraman, superintending archaeologist, ASI, Keezhadi site, said that the ASI would do so if the excavation was done on the government land, but the land under excavation at Keezhadi belonged to private parties.

Kanimozhi claims that the land owners were willing to sell it if the government paid them adequate compensation.

Kanimozhi Mathi has claimed that excavation during the third phase was not as intensive as it was done during the first two phases under the supervision of superintending archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna.

The transfer of Amarnath Ramakrishna, Superintending Archaeologist, Excavations Branch (Bangalore), ASI, who was overseeing the excavation work in Keezhadi at a crucial juncture has kicked up a storm.

Retired senior epigraphist Venkatesan said the discoveries at Keezhadi site should be kept intact at one place to stress the importance of the history. Once artefacts are taken to ASI’s southern centre, they will never be brought back, he feared.

He said Keezhadi discoveries will be the only chance for the ASI team to scientifically determine the Sangam era, which was similar to the Harappan civilisation.

A senior ASI official said that setting up a site museum at Keezhadi area will take time since the excavation is being done entirely by hand using special archaeological equipment.