Now, ASI asks archaeologist to write report on Keeladi’s third phase

Chennai: After asking K Amarnath Ramakrishna to “rework” his detailed report on the first two phases of excavation in Keeladi, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has now deputed retired Superintending Archaeologist P S Sriraman to write a detailed report on the third phase of digging, which, he said in 2017, did not yield any significant findings.

It is learnt that ASI Director-General Y S Rawat has asked Sriraman, who retired in 2019, to also write a report on the excavations he led in Kodumanal, located on the northern banks of the Noyyal River in Erode district.

Archaeologists say Kodumanal can be divided into two cultural periods — the Megalithic era and the Prehistoric era — during which the inhabitants excelled in crafts, had trade contacts with many countries, and constructed long-lasting structures.

Sources told DH that Sriraman, whose proclamation that there was no continuity in the brick structures previously discovered led to a massive political uproar, will be working out of the ASI’s Chennai office while writing the report.

Sriraman, who succeeded Ramakrishna to lead the third phase in Keeladi after his sudden transfer to Assam in 2017, also led the team of excavators at Kodumanal in 2018. “The ASI DG has asked Sriraman, who retired as Superintending Archaeologist, to submit his reports on the third phase of the excavations in Keeladi and in Kodumanal,” a source familiar with the matter told DH.

When contacted, Sriraman told DH that he would soon start work on the report on the third phase of excavation in Keeladi. “I have sought permission to complete the report since I am retired now. A formal communication from the ASI is expected soon,” he added.

The development comes over a month after the ASI asked Ramakrishna to “resubmit” his 982-page report after making necessary corrections suggested by two experts who vetted the document.

Experts, who wished to remain anonymous, told DH that while asking an excavator to write reports on excavations is standard practice, “waking up” after seven years and asking a retired archaeologist to begin work on the document raises several questions.

“Sriraman said there were no significant findings, after which the Madras High Court asked the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) to take over Keeladi excavations. What will he write? I doubt that his report will be used to counter the findings of Ramakrishna. This doesn’t sound right,” a retired archaeologist told DH.

While 5,800 artefacts were unearthed from the first two phases of excavations in Keeladi, about 14,000 artefacts have been recovered by the TNSDA between 2017 and 2025.

Keeladi has become one of the most politicized archaeological sites in South India, with the BJP and DMK frequently sparring over its significance.

When Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat demanded more evidence regarding the period of Keeladi in June, it sparked widespread outrage in Tamil Nadu, prompting Chief Minister M K Stalin to accuse the BJP of continuing to promote the mythical Sarasvati Civilization while rejecting credible evidence on the existence of Keeladi.

The ASI told Ramakrishna on May 21 that the three periods he proposed for Keeladi — between the 8th century BCE and 3rd century CE — require proper nomenclature or re-orientation, and that the time bracket of the 8th century BCE to 5th century BCE requires “concrete justification.”

“The other two periods should also be determined based on scientific AMS dates and the material recovered with stratigraphical details. The date of the earliest period, in the present state of our knowledge, appears to be very early; it can be, at the maximum, somewhere before 300 BCE,” it said.

However, Ramakrishna stoutly defended his report and stopped short of making it clear whether he would rework the report, following which he was transferred from ASI headquarters in New Delhi to the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities in Greater Noida in June.