CHENNAI: The State Archeology department will begin excavation at Keezhadi archeological site, near Madurai, from May.
Deputy director of the State Archeology department, R Sivanandan told Express that after elections are over, they will immediately start the excavation at Keezhadi site. “The permission that we have received from the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology is valid till September 2019. We will start the work in May because after arrival of monsoons, it will become difficult to do the excavation work,” said Sivanandan.
According to sources, the State Archaeology department has sought Rs 45 lakh from the State government for the work and the fund is likely to arrive soon. This will be the fifth phase of excavation at Keezhadi, which is a major archeological site in Tamil Nadu.
Notably, during the previous phase of excavation that had concluded in October last year, the State Archeology department found around 6000 artefacts from the site. The antiquities included terracotta figurines, pottery objects, a large number of beads made of terracotta of different varieties, iron objects, tools, pots, bowls, etc.
The overwhelming success of the fourth phase of excavation had prompted the State government to continue the project and had received necessary permission from CABA for the excavation at Keezhadi last year only.
State archeology officials said the excavation which will start in May, is extremely crucial as it will help in bringing up more evidence about the civilization that thrived near river Vaigai. However, they did not divulge the areas in which they would be carrying out the excavation work in Keezhadi this time. “All necessary preparations will be done before we start the excavation work,” said an official.
It is important to mention that after Archeological Survey of India’s work at Keezhadi courted controversy, since last year, the State Archeology department has been carrying out excavation at the site. It had started the work in April last year and the project concluded in October.