Excavations approved at contentious Keezhadi site

Excavations at Tamil Nadu's Sangam-era site at Keezhadi have been approved by the Standing Committee (SC) of the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA) for the fourth season. The approval, however, comes with a rider. The SC has noted that the project director of the excavation, Ashok Ranjan Mohanty, Commissioner of the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, is "technically not qualified". And any approval is "subject to the condition that director of excavation may be technically qualified."

As part of the remarks, the SC noted that a similar proposal was also sent by Excavation Branch VI of the ASI, which is based in Bangalore. "ASI had excavated this site for last three years; Director of Excavations as IAS and not a trained archaeologist; Co-Director Dr J. Bhaskar is a training archaeologist. There is a court case in the matter (sic)," the SC noted.

Mohanty, a 1985 batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu Cadre, joined the ASI as Commissioner of Archaeology in March this year. He was earlier the secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission.

The excavation at the site has been a contentious issue between the ministry of culture and the Tamil Nadu state government for the past two years. The transfer of the superintending archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishnan to Guwahati in May this year led to a huge uproar. Experts in Tamil Nadu said that PS Sriraman, who was brought in from the Jodhpur circle to replace Ramakrishnan, did not have the requisite expertise. Ramakrishnan challenged his transfer at the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), but was directed by the ASI to hand over charge to Sriraman.

In the first two seasons of excavations at the site, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) found over 6,000 artefacts dating from 400 CE to 200 CE at the site, throwing up tangible evidence of the Sangam era literature for the first time. Artefacts include potsherds, brickbats, wells, copper coins, gold artefacts and beads made of marble, jade, clay, etc.

However, when the ASI wanted to carry over 1,893 artefacts to the Bangalore Circle, the Tamil Nadu state government protested, and a PIL was filed at the Madras High Court in 2016.

The court later ruled that the artefacts be returned after the documentation is completed.

The SC's approval is for the fourth phase of excavation at the unprotected site, and it will be carried out by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology. The state department will furnish funds of Rs 50 lakh, including funds for a museum at the site.