A visit to the fossil park here offers visitors a wonderful way of travelling aeons back in time but this geological wonder could do with several visitor-friendly improvements.
About 30 km off Puducherry, the National Fossil Wood Park situated at Thiruvakkarai, has been attracting less number of travellers or enthusiasts these days. The park houses several rare fossilised woods of various sizes that originated about 20 million years ago.
The fossilised trees are rare and found only in some parts of the world. These fossilised tree trunks are present in the sandstone mounds about one km east of the village.
Geologists call the sedimentary rock ‘Cuddalore Sandstone Formation’.
Those tree trunks have been brought from forests by rivers and deposited in the water bodies along with sediments about 20 million years ago.
DocumentationIn 1781, M. Sonnert, naturalist, first documented the existence of fossilised wood. Some of the trees resemble the tamarind species.
According to the Geological Survey of India, on burial due to putrefaction processes the organic matter was replaced with silica, retaining the original structures such as annular rings and tree trunk nodes.
Absence of roots, barks and branches indicates that these trunks were transported to the present location and were fossilized.
More than 200 fossilised tree trunks are spread over an area of about 247 acres. Some are 30 m in length and 1.5 m in diameter.
Only a few were collected and lie haphazardly in the park while several fossilised woods have not been brought into the park enclosure.
Though the Geological Survey of India, the custodian of National Geological monuments has been protecting the rare occurrence of fossilised wood since 1957, no geologist was posted here to explain the value of rare woods and the importance of the fossil. Lone watchman stands guarding the rare woods kept in the park. Common visitors get disappointed as there is no adequate facility.
V. Selvaperumal, researcher and Assistant Professor of Arignar Anna Government Arts College, Karaikal, said that during his research on the most famous Thirvakkarai Temple, he found so many fossil sediments in and around the entire area roughly one and half kilometre radius.
Only small quantity of rare fossil woods have been collected and kept in small park enclosure.
Dr. Selvaraperumal said, “There is no deep research done on those fossils. It is a disappointment for several visitors here as there is no proper arrangement to explain on the rare fossils. If a deeper study will be undertaken, more truth on the origin of earth and rare species may come out.”
Some of the visitors who happen to visit the place tend to take away pieces of woods as showcase material for their houses.
The park is only partially fenced and at some places is overrun with bushes.
Facilities on the anvilA top officer in the GSI said, “Facilites such as museum and theatre are on the anvil. Once funds are released, we will execute them.”
