AIADMK supports State govt.'s efforts on Keeladi issue: Edappadi K. Palaniswami

The Hindu

3 days ago

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday said his party supported the efforts of the State government with regard to archaeological excavations.
After visiting Keeladi Museum here, Mr. Palaniswami said he, however, could not comment on the ongoing dialogue between the State and the Central governments on publishing the Keeladi report on the initial phase of excavation conducted by Archaeological Survey of India as he was unclear about what the Centre had asked.
The statement was regarding the Centre's direction to ASI archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna to revise the report on Keeladi excavation and his subsequent refusal to do so.
The former Chief Minister said the archaeological excavations at Keeladi were carried out during the AIADMK regime. 'It was during the AIADMK regime that the Keeladi excavations first began in 2014. The first phase of the study, led by Amarnath Ramakrishnan, started in 2015.'
The excavations were conducted in the subsequent years. Above all, it was former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who laid the foundation for a grand museum worth ₹12.5 crore to display the artefacts found then. During the third phase of excavation in 2017-18, as many as 5,820 artefacts were unearthed. Further, in 2018, six samples were sent to a laboratory in Florida, USA, and it was confirmed that the Keeladi civilisation dated back to 6th century BC.
'When I spoke in the Assembly in 2018, I mentioned that the Keeladi study plays a significant role in highlighting our traditional glory. We inaugurated an exhibition of 6,720 archaeological artifacts on the campus of Madurai World Tamil Sangam,' he added.
In 2020, some of the artifacts were displayed at Chennai Book Fair, but today, some were politicising Keeladi for gaining political mileage, he further said.