CHENNAI: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has granted approval to IIT Bombay for archaeological excavation at Kundadi (Maachur) inside Palani Hills forest in Kodaikanal of Dindigul district, where groups of iron-age megalithic burials have been identified. The proposal is currently pending with the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu.
The project, titled “Mortuary Landscape of Southern India”, is aimed at shedding light on burial practices, belief systems, and social and cultural life around 2,000 years ago.
Comparatively little archaeological work has examined megalithic burials in the Western Ghats, making the Palani Hills excavation significant, said Smriti Haricharan, who has been named the excavation director. Haricharan is an associate professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Bombay.
The ASI issued the approval on September 18, 2025, following the recommendation of its expert committee. The approval has been granted under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules, 1959.
The proposed excavation will cover only a 5m x 5m area, with soil removed from inside and around the burials and replaced after the work. Researchers also plan to use new scientific technologies to map the burial distribution and understand the spatial pattern of the site.
ASI Director (Archaeology) Hemasagar A Naik, who signed the approval, said the excavation would have to be carried out under the supervision of the designated director, who is required to be present at the excavation site.
The ASI approval also requires the inventory of antiquities and other key artefacts recovered during the excavation to be submitted to its directorate in New Delhi. Naik said the superintending archaeologist from the Tiruchy circle has also been directed to visit the site from time to time.
Haricharan said the project is designed to understand the mortuary landscape of Tamil Nadu over a long period, with a particular focus on the earliest material remains of mortuary practices represented by megalithic burials. “These burials tell us a lot about the belief systems, social, economic and cultural practices of the past,” she said in the project justification note.
Some burial practices in forested areas may not have been documented because dense vegetation has kept such sites undetected. According to Haricharan, dense vegetation can protect sites from looting and erosion, while forest soil may preserve organic artifacts such as seeds, wood, and bones. Previous work at Kundadi has indicated that the burials have remained relatively undisturbed because of limited human intervention.
