Archaeological dig sparks war of words between TN govt, Centre

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-06-30 10:47:02 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-19 20:14:44

Share: Facebook | Twitter | Whatsapp | Linkedin Visits: 25

---

A day after the Tamil Nadu government urged the Centre to release the report of the excavations at Keeladi village, the Union culture ministry called the report "unscientific" and "malicious." The row erupted after the central government allegedly didn't recognise the excavation report, submitted to the ASI by archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna.

The state government said the report was submitted to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in March 2022, but the central government is yet to take any action on it. Stalin said the report pointed to important discoveries from the Sangam period.

"Important archaeological discoveries from the Sangam period have been made at Keeladi village in Tamil Nadu's Sivaganga district. The matter was brought to the notice of the Union Culture Minister through a letter on February 25, 2022," the state government said in a statement. "Despite several reminders, the Union government is yet to take any action on the report submitted by the archaeologist," it added.

The state government said the excavations at Keeladi have been taking place since 2015 and have unearthed important proofs of the ancient Tamil civilization. "The report on the excavations should be made public," the state urged the Centre.

In response, the Union culture ministry termed the allegations as "untrue and malicious."

"Such allegations are untrue and malicious. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is under the Ministry of Culture and not the Tamil Nadu government. The excavations at Keeladi were carried out under the supervision of the ASI," the ministry said in a statement.

"The excavation report prepared by the ASI competent authorities is yet to be submitted to the Ministry . The ministry denies the malicious and misleading allegations," it added.

Ever since the excavations began at Keeladi, the findings have shed a lot of light on the period dating back to the Sangam era, over 2,200 years ago. Some of the key findings include ancient jewellery, bronze artefacts, and other unique artefacts that indicate a sophisticated ancient civilization.

Go!