Tamil Nadu Plans To Restart Keezhadi Excavation

The Tamil Nadu government has sent a request to the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA) to conduct excavations at multiple sites in the state.

The sites include Keezhadi, where certain artefacts were dated to 6th century BCE, pushing back the time period of urbanisation in Tamil Nadu to coincide with that of the Gangetic valley.

Keezhadi is located near Madurai in the neighbouring Sivaganga district.

Permission has been requested for four new sites — Kilnamandi in Tiruvannamalai district, Porpanaikottai in Pudukkottai district, Boothinatham in Dharmapuri district, and Pattaraiperumbudur in Tiruvallur district.

Among the older sites for which permission has been sought are Vembakottai in Virudhunagar district, Thulukarpatti in Tuticorin district, and Gangaikondacholapuram, a town built by the Chola King Rajendra-I, in Ariyalur district.

Once permission is granted by CABA, the excavations will be conducted by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA). This would be the ninth round of excavations at Keezhadi and its cluster sites like Konthagai, Manalur and Agaram.

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