The Kerala Archaeology Department is seeking expert advice to determine the provenance of ‘Indus Valley Seals’ found at the Padmanabhapuram Palace in southern Tamil Nadu.
The Department has sought the help of noted epigraphist and expert on Indus Valley script, Iravatham Mahadevan, to see whether the seals are genuine Indus Valley artefacts or replicas.
“He has agreed to send an official down from Chennai to examine the seals. What we have learned so far is that the seals were sent to Travancore by the British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler,” Archaeology Department director G Premkumar said. (A former director general of the Archaeology Survey of India during British rule, Wheeler had conducted explorations in Harappa, Mohenjodaro and other Indus Valley sites). It is presumed that the seals were sent to Travancore for studying their Dravidian origins. For decades since Independence, the objects lay forgotten in a box at the palace. In June this year, the Archaeology Department had stumbled upon the seals - numbering some 60 - during the renovation of the Padmanabhapuram Palace. The stone-and-wood structure which once belonged to the Travancore royal family, though in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, is held by the Kerala Archaeology Dept.
That said, public will not have to wait for experts to do their bit for a chance to view the tiny artefacts. The Archaeology Department is putting them on public display at the palace soon. ‘’Until we were sure of their authenticity, we thought we will display them under the title ‘Indus Valley Seals (Replicas).’ They will go on display in two or three months’ time,’’ the Archaeology director said.