Back in 2012 when Rajanna was blessed with his first born, he wished to find a unique name for the child, a name that represented the rich history and culture of his state Tamil Nadu. The 45-year-old Madurai-based dentist, who is also a keen history enthusiast, remembers exploring several books and the Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on the many monuments and ancient hills in and around Madurai to find something to his liking. “While on a walk one day to the Kongar Puliyankulam Hill, I came across the word ‘aadhan’ in one of the inscriptions. ‘Aadhan’ in old Tamil means the first one on earth,” explains Rajanna. It was this name that he chose for his son, despite the fact that his parents and friends remained unconvinced about whether the name truly belonged to the Tamil corpus.
Almost a year later, a sudden excitement emerged about some ancient archaeological findings in a small nondescript village called Keeladi, around 15 kilometres away from Rajanna’s home. On visiting the site, Rajanna remembers listening to Amarnath Ramakrishna, the then superintendent archaeologist leading the findings at Keeladi. “He showed us many of the potsherds found at Keeladi carrying names of people in the Tamil Brahmi script, who perhaps owned these pieces some 2,500 years back,” says Rajanna. Among the many names found here, a most common one happened to be the one he had chosen for his son: Aadhan. “It was this discovery that finally convinced my parents and friends that the name indeed belonged to old Tamil vocabulary,” Rajanna says with a wide smile. In the next few months and years, he came across several people who had named their children or their businesses on the names found on the pottery remains at Keeladi.
Ten years later, the village where Rajanna had found confirmation of the ‘Tamilness’ of his son’s name has now turned into a hub of Tamil history and pride. The excavations at Keeladi, which are now in its ninth phase, have opened up a Pandora’s box and proved that Tamil people are older than previously thought to be. Archaeologists working at the site say enough scientific evidence has now been found to suggest that civilisation and literacy emerged in the south as far back in time as the sixth century BCE, disproving what we knew till now of these changes first taking place in the Gangetic plains of the north.
Potsherds with Tamil Brahmi script discovered at Keeladi. (Express photo by Gokul Subramaniam)
Both the archaeological site and the museum that was opened earlier this year have been attracting unprecedented attention both from politicians and common people. Officials at the site say they receive as many as 4,000 visitors on weekends and about 1,500 on weekdays. “It is abnormal for this many people to be visiting an archaeological site in Tamil Nadu,” says C Santhalingam, retired archaeologist from the State Department of Archaeology. “We have conducted so many excavations in Tamil Nadu before, but nothing has attracted such a large crowd,” he adds with a gentle laugh. What then makes Keeladi so special to Tamil consciousness?
Keeladi in the history of excavations in India
The story of Keeladi begins sometime in 2013 when Ramakrishna was posted at the ASI’s excavation branch in Bangalore. He says that since 1965 the ASI had not conducted an excavation of any major habitation site in the south. Thereafter, he concluded that he must make an effort to fill up this long gap. Consequently, he and his small team of three or four people decided to survey the Vaigai river basin, a distance of 270 kilometres, on foot over the course of a year to identify one site that had the potential to throw up evidence of historic habitation.
“We know that the first paleolithic stone tools in India were found in 1863 near Madras itself at a village known as Pallavaram,” says Ramakrishna. “So we know for sure that this region has been continuously inhabited since prehistoric times. But no proper study of the sequence of cultures in Tamil Nadu has been carried out.”
But prehistoric, or in other words that period of history when mankind had not yet left behind written records, was not what Ramakrishna was interested in finding. His objective was to find clues to the beginnings of urbanisation and literate culture in Tamil Nadu. “We know that the first urbanisation in India happened during the Harappan civilisation. After the disintegration of the Harappans, they spread all over India and I am sure they came to the south also,” says Ramakrishna. It is unfortunate, he believes, that this aspect of urban development in the south has not been studied.
Until very recently, the period of second urbanisation in India is known to have taken place between 600 to 500 BCE and concentrated in the middle of the Gangetic plains. It used to be argued that South India entered this historical phase much later in the third century BCE and that too with the intervention of the Mauryan king Ashoka who was known to have introduced writing in the region.
This understanding of Indian history, argues Ramakrishna, was because most archaeological excavations in India were concentrated in the north. “Majority of excavation branches of the ASI have been concentrated in the north. It was only recently in 2001 that the first ASI excavation branch came up in the south in Bangalore,” Ramakrishna explains. Until then excavations in the south were carried out by the ASI circles, state governments, and college archaeology departments, which he believes could not be carried out at the same scale as what the central government could do.
Further, he suggests that the priority of the ASI excavation branches was to find Indus Valley sites.
The Partition of India had resulted in the majority of Indus Valley sites going to Pakistan, including both Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Archaeologist and Historian Nayanjot Lahiri explains that “a lot of us grew up with this idea that we have lost Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, even though we had retained half of the material found from these sites… Consequently soon after Independence, there was an urgency to finding Harappan sites in India, which was very much state driven.”
The other major concern of archaeological study in India soon after Independence though was to fill up the gaps in understanding of ancient history of India, including that in southern India. In her book, Monuments Matter: India’s Archaeological Heritage since Independence (2017), Lahiri writes that as far as South India was concerned it was felt that the gap in historical understanding of the region was a lot larger.
Consequently, one of the earliest excavations in South India following Independence was carried out at Arikamedu near Pondicherry by Sir Mortimer Wheeler between 1947-50. It threw up evidence of pottery, Roman lamps, stone beads and glass, and it was concluded that the site was an ancient Greek port that traded with Rome between the first century BCE and first century CE. A subsequent excavation carried out at the site much later between 1989-92 now dates the findings to second century BCE and eighth century CE.
In the subsequent years though, archaeological excavations in southern India, more specifically in Tamil Nadu, were far lesser in comparison to the north, although not completely absent. Kaveripoompattinam in Nagapattinam district, which is known to have been a major port city of the early Chola kings, was excavated in 1962-63. Alagankulam in Ramanathapuram district was excavated in 1984-86 and revealed hundreds of potsherds of the Mediterranean region dating to the first century BCE along with Roman coins which suggest that it was a major port city. More recently, Adichinallur in Thoothukudi district, which was the capital of the early Pandyan kingdom, was excavated in 2004-05.
Ramakrishna would argue that none of these sites were properly studied, nor were they providing evidence of a major habitation site. “Keeladi is the first major habitation site that is being studied in a scientific manner,” he concludes.
Lahiri, however, argues that it would be wrong to suggest that before Keeladi there was no evidence of an early urban culture in South India. She emphasises upon the findings of two other archaeological sites, Porunthal and Kodumanal, which were excavated before Keeladi, from 2009 onwards by archaeologist K Rajan and threw up enough evidence to suggest that the beginnings of urban development and writing in Tamil Nadu happened before the intervention of the Mauryas in South India. In her book she describes in great detail the findings from these two sites and suggests it to be a “major landmark” in understanding the archaeological evidence for the advent of writing in the Indian subcontinent.
“We must give K Rajan the credit for this finding,” says Lahiri. “His work at Kodumanal clearly showed that much was happening in South India in the fifth and sixth centuries BCE. He found hundreds of sherds with the Brahmi script and got them dated. It was an urban site and a commercial centre.”
Lahiri goes on to suggest that much of the excitement at Keeladi was because of it being a Sangam era site. “Sangam culture is very much a part of the living cultural tradition of South India. It’s like the Ramayana and Mahabharata,” she says. “So for instance if an excavation takes place in Hastinapur, Sonepat, Purana Quila — which are part of the epics — it immediately catches the imagination of people because they have read about them. It is similar for the Sangam sites in the south.”
Keeladi and the finding of Sangam’s material evidence
When Ramakrishna zeroed down on Keeladi for excavation among the 293 sites he had originally identified, his reasoning was simple: “Keeladi was very close to Madurai”.
“Madurai is a famous historic centre in Tamil Nadu, but no one knows how old Madurai is,” he says. The earliest known inscription inside the city is in the Meenakshi Temple and can be dated to around the ninth century CE. “Does that mean that there was no city here before that?” asks Ramakrishna.
He points out that the Sangam literature that was first conceived more than 2,500 years ago clearly mentions Madurai. Moreover, over 24 Jain caves older than 2,300 years that are located in and around the city also carry inscriptions suggesting the name of Madurai. “This means that the city existed here for much longer,” Ramakrishna says.
The Meenakshi Temple at Madurai (Express photo by Adrija Roychowdhury)
Given the fact that Madurai at present is a living and thriving urban centre, it was impossible to dig it up for the sake of finding evidence of its long lost antiquity. The next best thing to do was to excavate a site located nearby. Keeladi was the best option available. “The location of Madurai was key to deciding on Keeladi,” says Ramakrishna.
The significance of the Sangam corpus on Tamil consciousness can hardly be underestimated. It is the earliest literary evidence from South India. The poems and songs in the corpus are known to have been the product of three sangams or literary gatherings held in the ancient Tamil region. Madurai has a pivotal place in the Sangam literary scene. Historian Upinder Singh in her book, ‘A history of ancient and early medieval India: From Stone Age to the 12th century’ (2008) notes that “a tradition recorded in post-7th century texts speaks of three Sangams or literary gatherings in ancient times.” The first is said to have been held in Madurai for more than 4,440 years. The second gathering was known to have been held in Kapatapuram for 3,700 years, while the third one once again took place in Madurai for 1,850 years.
“The Sangam corpus spoke in detail about the Tamil way of life,” says Madurai based Tamil writer A. Muthukrishnan. “It also talks about the ecology, the flora and fauna, the rivers, the climate and much more about this region,” he explains.
Historians have for long debated the exact dates of the Sangams, but most agree that they were composed sometime between third century BCE and third century CE. Muthukrishnan mentions that for long the Sangam corpus was ridiculed to be no more than fictional texts. “The problem was that we never had any material evidence to show that life existed here during that time,” he says. “But in the last 10 years, archaeological excavations at Keeladi have given us proof of all that the Sangam texts are talking about.”
The resonance of Sangam texts is perhaps the most crucial aspect of the findings at Keeladi. It is worth noting the conscious effort in narrating the story of the artifacts in close association with the Sangam texts. Verses from the Sangam texts are put up on display upon the walls of the newly constructed museum. Almost every finding displayed is accompanied by a short description note that carries the serial number of the poem in the Sangam corpus that gives reference to it.
Almost every finding displayed is accompanied by a short description note that carries the serial number of the poem in the Sangam corpus that gives reference to it. (Express photo by Adrija Roychowdhury)“For instance, there are many songs in the Sangam texts that describe the making of iron,” says Ajay Kumar, archaeological officer in charge of Keeladi. He explains that the iron smelting tools found in Keeladi corroborate the same process as mentioned in the texts.
Kumar points out another poem ‘kalam sei kovey’, in the text ‘Purananuru’ that talks about burial traditions. “This poem suggests that one must make an urn wide enough for two people to be buried in it together,” says Kumar, adding that they did discover one urn from the site that carried the remains of two people.
Other discoveries from the site such as carnelian beads, playing dice, iron daggers, iron sickle among several others are said to have references in the Sangam texts as well. Names such as ‘Aadhan’ found in the potsherds at Keeladi also find mention in the Sangam corpus.
The Sangam connection soon sparked public interest of the kind never seen before. Muthukrishnan observes that after Keeladi more people in Tamil Nadu have suddenly started revisiting the Sangam texts and reading them with unprecedented enthusiasm.
Both Muthukrishnan and Santhalingam are aware that the resonance of Sangam poetry alone is not responsible for the heightened interest in Keeladi. “Keeladi is the first excavation in India to happen under a camera,” says Muthukrishnan. Mobile photography and social media posts and discussions have played a critical role in creating the buzz around Keeladi.
Then there was also the ego battle with the central government that has resulted in the state government’s increased attention upon the site. While the excavation was first taken up by the ASI, it was halted in 2017 after three seasons of digging. “Perhaps it was that the findings were seen as being as significant as the Indus Valley civilisation that the central government felt provoked,” remarks Santhalingam. “It was only because of the continuous agitation of the Tamil people that led to the state government stepping in and they have since then been doing the excavation here.”
Residents of Keeladi and nearby villages working as labourers at the archaeological site. (Express photo by Gokul Subramaniam)
In the days and months that followed, the archaeological site at Keeladi turned into a hub of historical pride. With hundreds visiting the museum and the site of excavation every day, roads were built and better transport facilities became available. Residents of the village found a new source of employment along with the pride of having a museum in their village.
Pasunpon, a resident of Keeladi and mother of two, who has been working as a daily labourer in the excavation site for the last nine years says she can tell by the change in soil colour when an artifact can be expected. She beams with pride while informing that it was her who had first discovered the microbeads from Keeladi that are now in the museum. “It is because I found those beads that Keeladi became famous,” she says.
