Making people in the Keeladi region realise the significance of the excavations in their villages, through which the more than 2,600-year-old history of Tamil civilisation could be traced, was important in safeguarding the sites, said Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan.
Speaking at a function organised to felicitate landlords, labourers and research scholars involved in the fifth phase of excavation at Keeladi near here on Monday, Mr. Venkatesan said the people should be proud of residing in a place with historical significance.
“They can take pride in introducing themselves as natives of Keeladi to people from any part of the country since the five phases of excavations have made the name popular across India. Villagers here should have a good knowledge of the findings so that they can explain them to outsiders,” he said.
“Only because the villagers know the importance, the sites are being safeguarded,” he said.
A dozen research scholars who joined officials of Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology and local villagers who worked hard during the excavations were felicitated. “They required the concentration of a goldsmith in spotting even small beads in the excavated soil,” he said.
“It became a challenge when every day at least 2,000 outsiders started visiting the excavation site. It was then the Rotary Club of Madurai Mid-Town helped some 100 volunteers from colleges to reach the site for regulating the crowd. The club provided them transport and food,” he said.
A village leader, Venkatasubramanian, said he was ready to provide assistance to put up a photo exhibition on the findings, as despite having been covered after the 5th phase of excavation, the site still attracted a lot of visitors.
Tirupuvanam Tahsildar Raja, Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeologyofficer B. Asaithambi, Rotarians D. Sivasankaran, K. Mathan, C. Pradeep Kumar and Nicholas Francis were present.
