Knowledge Nugget: How is Keeladi excavation relevant for UPSC Exam?

Key Takeaways :

1. Initiated in 2014 and led by archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishnaunder the ASI, the Keezhadi (or Keeladi) site revealed remnants of an advanced urban civilisation — brick structures, industrial furnaces, drainage systems, graffiti-marked pottery, and terracotta artefacts.

2. Ramakrishna submitted his final report in January 2023, concluding that the site dated back to between the 8th and 3rd century BCE, based on stratigraphic analysis and AMS-dated artefacts.

3. However, more than two years later, in May 2025, the ASI’s Exploration and Excavation division returned the report and asked Ramakrishna to revise it based on comments from two unnamed experts. The ASI’s letter argued that the proposed dating was “very early” and suggested the earliest period should be revised to “at the maximum, somewhere in pre-300 BCE”. Ramakrishna, in a formal written reply, defended the scientific basis of his chronology and rejected the demand to rework the sequence.

Potsherds with Tamil Brahmi script discovered at Keeladi. (Express photo by Gokul Subramaniam)

4. Notably, the findings — which include evidence of trade, such as carnelian beads, and literacy, in the form of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on potsherds — paint a compelling picture of a flourishing civilisation in South India dating back much further than previously believed.

5. The discoveries at Keezhadi are significant not only for Tamil Nadu, but for all of India, as they challenge long-standing historical narratives and offer proof that urbanisation may have developed parallelly in different regions of the Subcontinent.

6. Adrija Roychowdhury of The Indian Express writes in ‘Proximity to Madurai put Keeladi on archaeological map, the findings there took village to centre of Tamil consciousness’– 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.

7. Archaeologist and Historian Nayanjot Lahiri explains 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.”

8. 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.

Findings from the site

9. Recently, archaeologists working at Keeladi, a historic excavation site located 12 km southeast of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, have unearthed a crystal quartz weighing unit from the Sangam era.

The weighing unit, found 175 cm beneath the ground, is the first of its kind since excavations began in Keeladi in 2014. (Express Photo)

10.  In addition, archaeologists also found a terracotta hopscotch, an iron nail, black and red ware, and red slipped ware. Archaeologists also found an earthen snake figurine.

11. This discovery has stirred excitement among historians and archaeologists as weighing units in the past were primarily made of stones.

12. Adrija Roychowdhury of The Indian Express writes– “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)

13. “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.

14. 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.

15. “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,” writes Adrija Roychowdhury.

BEYOND THE NUGGET: Rakhigarhi and Ratnagiri Excavations 

1. At a time when the excavation work is underway at the over 5,000-year-old Harappan site of Rakhigarhi in Haryana’s Hisar district (located in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain), the central government declared mounds at the largest Harappan civilisation site at Rakhigarhi village in Hisar district protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

2. Rakhigarhi is considered one of the two big Harappan sites in the country, with the other being Dholavira in Gujarat.

3. Earlier, a three-month long excavation at three of the seven mounds at the Harappan site in 2022 had revealed the structure of some houses, lanes and drainage system, and what could possibly be a jewellery-making unit apart from pieces of copper and gold jewellery, terracotta toys, besides thousands of earthen pots and seals.

4. The site was first excavated by Amarendra Nath of ASI. Earlier Mohenjodaro (Pakistan) was considered to be the largest Harappan site until Prof. Vasanth Shinde and his team started fresh excavations at Rakhigarhi.

5. The findings confirm both early and mature phases of this 5,000-years-old Harappan site of Rakhigarhi. An important find from this site is a cylindrical seal with 5 Harappan characters on one side and a symbol of an alligator on the other.

6. An important find from this site is a cylindrical seal with 5 Harappan characters on one side and a symbol of an alligator on the other.

7. The ritual system is signified by an animal sacrificial pit lined with mud-brick and triangular and circular fire altars on the mud floor.  A DNA study from skeletal remains from the cemetery at Rakhigarhi found that the Harappan people had an independent origin. The study clearly negates the theory of the Harappans having ancestral links with steppe pastoral or ancient Iranian farmers.

8. Rakhigarhi gives the first evidence of a double burial where the skeletons are clearly male (38) and female (25).

Ratnagiri Excavations 

1.The excavation work at the 5th-13th century Buddhist complex in Ratnagiri has unearthed a colossal Buddha head, a massive palm, an ancient wall, and inscribed Buddhist relics, all of which are estimated to date back to the 8th and 9th centuries AD. It has underlined the significance of Ratnagiri in Odisha’s Jajpur district as a prominent Buddhist historical site.

2. The first excavations were carried out between 1958 and 1961 by Debala Mitra, an archaeologist who eventually served as ASI’s first woman director general (1981-83).  However, the site was not excavated further after 1961, even though a number of other structures and sculptures were partially visible. Instead, the ASI turned its attention to other Buddhist sites in Odisha.

A view of the excavation site in Ratnagiri, Odisha. ( Express photo)

3. Ratnagiri, literally “Hill of Jewels”, is located 100 km northeast of Bhubaneswar. It stands on a hill between Birupa and Brahmani rivers and is Odisha’s most famous — and the most excavated – Buddhist site.

4. Ratnagiri is one of the three points of Odisha’s famous Diamond Triangle along with Udaygiri and Lalitgiri. All three Buddhist heritage sites are located close to each other in the Jajpur and Cuttack districts of southeastern Odisha.

5. The Ratnagiri site is believed to be an important early centre of the Vajrayana (or Tantrayana) school of Buddhism which believed in acquiring mystical power through Vajra, meaning thunderbolt or diamond. That is why the three Buddhist sites in Odisha are called the ‘Diamond Triangle.’

6. The Ratnagiri monastery is the only Buddhist monastery in India with a curvilinear roof. Historical evidence suggests that at its peak, the monastery was home to around 500 monks, who followed the Tantrayana form of Buddhism.

Post Read Question

Which are the historical/cultural sites often called as a part of ‘The Diamond Triangle’:

(a) Ratnagiri, Udaygiri, and Lalitgiri

(b) Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda

(c) Ajanta Caves, Ellora Caves, Elphanta Caves

(d) Brihadeeswarar Temple, Meenakshi Temple, Chidambaram temple

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