The ASI’s excavations at Keezhadi near Madurai,
its largest in Tamil Nadu, have unearthed hard evidence of the city’s
existence in the Sangam Age of the Early Historic period. By T.S.
SUBRAMANIAN
At Keezhadi, a village not far from the southern bank of the Vaigai
river near Madurai, the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) is
undertaking a massive excavation, possibly its biggest to date in Tamil
Nadu. Already 42 trenches have been dug in two locations in a coconut
grove at a place called Pallichandai Thidal in the village. K. Amarnath
Ramakrishna, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI’s Excavation Branch VI,
Bengaluru, is leading the excavation, which has thrown up quite a few
surprises and is attracting many visitors, among them schoolchildren and
tourists. Amarnath takes time off to explain to visitors the
significance of the finds. One such is a “deep terracotta ring well with
13 rings” that promises to go down further. “Here we have a ring well
in association with a structure built of big-sized bricks. This is a
peculiarity,” he tells a few visiting archaeology buffs. He contrasts
this with the ring well excavated at Vasavasamudram near Kalpakkam (near
Chennai), which stood independent of any other structure. The same is
the case at Arikkamedu near Puducherry, he adds.
