The Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department has had a busy year with several excavations and restoration of heritage buildings and museums being carried out simultaneously. Minister for Archaeology Thangam Thennarasu, in an interview to The Hindu, says the preliminary study of the underwater site at the ancient port city of Korkai will begin this month and the Department is working towards setting up a carbon dating lab in Chennai that will reduce the dependency on foreign labs for testing our artefacts. Excerpts:
The Archaeological Department is in the news for the past year. Could you give us an update on the activities?
We have taken up new excavation seasons at Keeladi, Manalur, Kondagai and Gangaikonda Cholapuram. We have also taken up new sites for excavation this year — Vembakottai in Virudhunagar district, Thulukarpatti in Tirunelveli district and Perumbalai in Dharmapuri district. Also, this is the first time in history that the Tamil Nadu government has allotted funds to the tune of ₹5 crore for excavations. This shows the importance this government is attaching to archaeology. We are also taking up restoration of historical buildings — Sharjah Madi in Thanjavur Palace and the Thirumalai Nayaker Palace in Madurai. At the Government Museum in Egmore, we are renovating the Amaravathi Gallery, the Museum Theatre. We have sent a proposal to the Government of India for an additional building and funds have been allotted for the Bronze museum.
