The excavations at Indus valley and Saraswathi valley culture pushed back the antiquity of Indian history to 3000 BCE. Then what about vast region of South India peninsula? Was there no civilization? In 1863 British Geologist Sir Robert Bruce Foote found some stone pieces in Pallavaram, near Chennai and by his astute knowledge he judged it not to be a natural stone but carved in form of hand axe by human hands. A chain of excavations followed thereafter but I wonder how in span of next 120 years the buried civilizations remained blotted out from us? Was it deliberate or due to lack of resources or lack of fervor?
My this journey was actually religious to cover Rameswaram, Madurai and Kanyakumari. But I bumped in with an unexpected visit of ancient archaeological site Keeladi, Distt. Shivgangai on suggestion of Red Taxi driver. This excavation is very recent in 2015.
Poems of Sangam literature period of South dates from 300 BC to 300 AD and that talks about some great civilization of South but there were no evidences in hand.
Excavations (1999-2004) in Tamil Nadu revealed the lower, middle and upper Paleolithic cultures spanning more than 5 LAKH years of occupation while in Keeladi particularly artefacts dating from 6th century BC have been found. These include potsherds with graffiti, beads made of carnelian, glass, agate and other colorful minerals at single sites. Surprisingly no human skeletons are found and this suggests that Keeladi was market or business center and was not residential site. The excavations are continuing and many more aspects of the South India river valley civilizations are going to unfold in future.
How to reach
Keeladi is in Distt. Shivgangai of Tamil Nadu state of India. The museum and archaeological site are just 12 KM from Madurai Railway station. The distance between museum and excavation is just 1.5 KM. The approach roads are good.
Where to stay
You can stay in Madurai. We had booking in Sterling V Grand which is about 2 KM from Madurai Bus stand, 10 KM from railway station and 7 KM from Meenakshi temple.
What to see and time needed
You can club Keeladi along with your local Madurai tour. Ola, Uber, Red Taxi and Fast Track are available. I booked Red taxi by calling their call center. It was a good experience. Autos were not good experience.
Day 1 (Half day) – Meenakshi temple (2 hours in queue) and local market
Day 2 – Full day – Algar Kovil temple, immersive Keeladi (2 hours to see), Mariamman Teppakulam, Nayakka palace and Thiruparan Kundaram temple. 89 KM and red Taxi charge Rs. 1850 for 7 hours.
Being just 12 KM away Keeladi is local to Madurai. It is a pleasant and green village not yet so touched by urban light. The car stopped in front of the museum. The entry fee is Rs.15 and online payment is accepted.
This is one of the great museums I saw. Very beautifully designed building, spacious and well lighted modern rooms which add to the galore and decorum of the rare artefacts. I can not explain how much bliss contentment, pride and euphoria feelings I passed through when I saw these artefacts so near in front of my eyes.
There are several rooms to see. I took many photos when an attendant informed me that the video is about to start. The video is very well designed and understandable by a layman.
I am hereby writing the excerpts from the official video as it is.
“In Kottralai river’s basin (in Chennai Metropolis) we have got the traces of stone age men having lived there in several places. Attirampakkam Paleolithic Archaeological site (58 KM from Chennai) excavation shows that its habitants sharpened stones and used them as weapons to hunt animals, strike fruits from trees for their livelihood.”
“They have created a stone axe tool called a hand-axe. Similar other tool called Cleaver was made. Similarly they have made many tools and we call this as Paleolithic Age (15 Lakh years before).
These people have lived in naturally available food in the forest by hunting animals and gathering food like plants, fruits and seeds. They have dwelled in naturally occurring caves and rock shelters.
These people were nomads who moved from one place to another. They will not get all the food
they need in one place, they will stay in a place called a ‘band’ consisting of a group of 25-50 people. When there is no more food in that place they migrate to another place.”
“They started using micro tools and changed their lifestyle in the next era. The most important thing was that the size of the tools got smaller. They are using really small tools. They used these tools to cut animals to wear its skin as clothes, to catch fish. This was called Microlithic Age (also called Mesolithic age) 10,000 years before.
They also made the stones as sickles to cut plants, and other such tasks. We see many such places where they lived temporarily. Though we get traces of microlithic age in several places in Tamil Nadu, we get abundant traces from the side (Therikadu, Thiruneveli). We get Microlithic age traces spread over the area here. Note that there was Copper and Bronze age also between Neolithic age and iron Age. Rare are the artefacts of copper age and bronze age are found in Tamil Nadu. Reason is unknown.”
“After this the stance slowly changes. This is the period where man changes to the Neolithic Age. The stones were made smooth in this period. We call this Neolithic age (6000 years before). In this age man changes from hunting to agriculture. We call this Neolithic Revolution. In the Neolithic age people made pots. When they do agriculture they need pots to store grains harvested. Since they have saved the agriculture products, even if there is no harvest for a year, they could still live there. So when there is surplus, that is when various art forms emerge. One such form that emerged was rock painting (Keezhvalai, Vilipuram).”
We can also see art in rocks and pottery.
“Discovering iron ores, the iron smelting method to make tools is considered a significant period in the history of mankind. This is called the Iron Age (also called Megalithic Age) (4000 years ago). Because after the invention of iron tools they were able to convert forests into agricultural land. So after the arrival of iron tools agriculture and breeding of cows and goats started to increase. They have lived in big villages with simple houses made of perishable products like clay and wood. But for the dead there were several memorial Megalithics like Menhirs (vertical stones often found in graves of important individuals), dolmens (megalithic tombs), stone circles and urns made by them. Cist is a small stone-built coffin-like box, The circles of stone are believed to mark associated graves and also Tamili script stones are discovered from the site.”
“The evolution of the iron age led to the beginning of the historical era and political system of Empires. The three crowned kingdoms of Chera, Chola and Pandya controlled vast areas. In each of these empires you will find a capital city and a port city. It is this period that written script is first introduced called Tamil Brahmi or Tamili (Tamil script). We see evidence of this urbanization in archaeological sites like Keeladi. Human life evolved from the stone age, and reached a high social status. Main reason for this evolution is the abundant water resources of Tamil Nadu.”
“The rivers flowing towards East from the Western Ghats specially Palar river, Thenpennai river, Cauvery, Vaigai, Porunai (Thamirabarani) for every 200 KM a major river is flowing. The greatest river (Vaigai river) among these rivers is praised in the Sangam literature. Along the banks of the river Vaigai, evidence of the evolution of Human civilization has been found since the Neolithic age.”
“In continuation of Neolithic rock paintings, the Iron age Megalithics have also been found. Hero stones inscribed with Tamili script from the early historic period have been found. These Hero stones are the most ancient in India. Apart from the Hero stones.”
“Epigraphs with Tamili inscriptions have been found in abundance. Specifically the name ‘Madurai’ has been mentioned 2300 years ago in ‘Mettupatti’ (250 KM from Madurai)Tamil inscription. And ‘Azhagar malai’ (21 KM from Madurai) Tamili inscriptions. Similarly in ‘Mangulam’ (22 KM from Madurai) Tamili script. The mention of the name of Sangam Age Pandya king is considered much significant.
Above all the Archaeological excavation site that made it all is also in the banks of this river Vaigai and that is Keeladi. The one word that revived people’s interest is archaeology and heritage, in Tamil Nadu is Keeladi.”
“After the Union Government Archaeological Department’s three phase excavations, Tamil Nadu Archaeological department conducted five phase extensive excavations. The results unraveled aspects of Urban Civilization such as brick structures, trade, technology, literacy, sophisticated social life. Several such pieces of evidence were unearthed in Keeladi.”
“The fact that these Archaeological artefacts are 2600 years old is confirmed by scientific Dating results. Keeladi revealed the first ever extensive brick structure in Tamil nadu. Based on brick structure we ascertain that this was an urban civilization. Buildings have been built in a traditional way similar to our Sangam literature’s mentions. Only clay has been used as binding material, no other binding material has been used. That is an important observation. Based on this we identify that these structures are from the Sangam age. In addition to these structures, iron objects, precious Gemstone beads, different types of pottery, Spindle whorls viz abundant evidence of craftsmanship were unearthed in Keeladi. Also Arretine (bright red polished pottery), rouletted ware, foreign potteries of these kinds were unearthed, Roman coins and 5th century BC Ganges valley coins are also being found. Specifically, as we get coins before the Mauriyan era, we ascertain that Keeladi has served as a trade city well before the Mauriyan era. We ascertain that Keeladi has served as a trade city well before the Mauriyan era.”
“Similarly, potsherds with graffiti. In continuation to that, Tamili inscribed potsherds have been found in Keeladi. These inscribed potsherds serve as an evidence that a society of literate people have lived in Keeladi. There is no necessity for a king to write on a potsherd. The common people have written the name on their pots in Tamili scripts or graffiti. Even today we have the habit of writing our name on our utensils. That practice seems to have continued since that time in Tamil Nadu.
Other than this, their games and their hobbies were important. A civilization is valued based on the time they spent on their timepass. Dice games portrayed in ‘Kalithogai’ clearly mentions the number 10 on dice. This is only possible in Cubic dice. Dice portrayed in ‘Kalithogai’ are similar to the dice unearthed in Keeladi. Keeladi proves the historical accuracy of Sangam literature. No other excavation site in India closely resembles the portrayals of literature of any kind to my knowledge.
Terracotta toy wheels, Hopscotches, ivory dice, gamesmen and Cowrie shells. Plenty of these game objects have been found in Keeladi. We still see these games are being played by our people.”
Some important excavation sites in Tamil Nadu.
Palaeolithic Sites
More than 5 Lakh years old artefacts. Pallavaram (Distt Chennai) and Gudiyam (Distt Chennai), Attirambakkam (Distt. Tiruvallur), Neyveli (Distt. Tiruvallur), Poondi (Distt. Tiruvallur), Vadamadurai(Distt. Tiruvallur), Parikulam (Distt. Tiruvallur)
Microlithic (Mesolithic) Sites
Kaliupatti (Distt. Madurai), Mayiladumparai (Distt. Dharmapuri), Mangudi (Distt. Tirunelveli)
Neolithic Sites
Dailamala (Distt. Dharmapuri), Mullikadu (Distt. Dharmapuri), Togarapalli (Distt. Krishnagiri) , Paiyampalli (Distt. Vellore)
Iron Age (Megalithic) Sites
Of the nearly 120 sites excavated so far more than 56 belong to the Iron Age. Kodumanal (Distt. Erode), Kova lanpottal (Distt. Madurai), AdichanaUur (Distt. Thoothukkudi), Nedunkur (Distt. Karur), Sembiyan Kandiyur (Distt.Nagapattinam) are some famous sites.
Epilogue
It is dismaying that the excavation breakthrough started in 1863. An advanced civilization lived in South India since 6th Century BC but we were in the dark about it. Why is it seeing the limelight now after so long 120 years? The artefacts found in Keeladi are of the Iron Age and confirm that it was an industrial and trading Centre those days. Still it is intriguing that no skeletons are found at these sites. Archaeologists suggest that so far only 10-15% excavations done and horizontal excavations in this region may lead us to more surprising facts and truth about this lost civilization.
Come to Tami Nadu and explore and appreciate the past glory and founders of the great Soil of India. It is not only Indus valley or Mesopotamia but it is South India also.
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