Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin lays foundation stone for open-air museum in Keeladi

Chennai: Keeladi, the Sangam Era archaeological site where excavations are in their tenth phase, will soon boast an open-air museum that will showcase the brick structures, ring wells, and factory zones unearthed since 2014.

The open-air archaeological museum will be built at a cost of Rs 17 crore and is in addition to a museum that the government threw open in the village showcasing the rich antiquities recovered from different phases of digging.

Chief Minister M K Stalin laid the foundation stone for the ambitious project along with launching an exclusive website for the archaeological site here on Thursday. He did the honours after releasing a report ‘Antiquity of Iron’ which came out with a hypothesis that Tamil Nadu’s Iron Age is 5,300 years old, having started in the first quarter of the third millennium. 

Stalin also broke the ground for a grand museum at Gangaikondacholapuram in Ariyalur district to showcase artefacts found during the excavations conducted by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA). 

Gangaikondacholapuram, built by Rajendra-I in honour of his father Raja Raja Cholan of the Thanjavur Big Temple fame, holds a significant place in the country’s history with the Chola Kingdom having unfurled its flag in far-away China several centuries back. The museum here will be built at a cost of Rs 22 crore. 

At the event, Stalin said the new projects were part of the efforts by his government to showcase the ancient history of Tamils and prove through scientific methods that the history of the Indian subcontinent should be rewritten from the Tamil landscape. 

Archaeological excavations in Tamil Nadu in the recent past have created a buzz with significant findings from Keeladi and Sivagalai which date back to 2,600 years and 3,200 years ago respectively based on AMS dating of artefacts found during the excavations. The results have encouraged the government to allot record funds for the archaeology department with Stalin himself taking a keen interest in the matter. 

The government is also building a massive museum in Tirunelveli to showcase artefacts unearthed during excavations in Sivagalai and Adichanallur. 

Keeladi has so far thrown over 20,000 artefacts by springing surprises every digging season. While the first three phases were conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India, the TNSDA took over from the fourth phase.