ASI Allows Retired Archaeologist To Prepare Reports For Keezhadi Phase III, Kodumanal Excavations

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has granted archaeologist P S Sriraman permission to prepare detailed reports on the third phase of Keezhadi excavations in Sivaganga district, conducted under his supervision before his retirement in 2019.

The agency has allowed Sriraman to prepare reports on the third phase of excavations at Keeladi and one season of excavations at Kodumanal in Erode district, which he led, The Hindu reported, citing ASI sources.

Sriraman will access excavation material stored in Chennai to compile the pending documentation.

“As I had retired, both reports were pending. I sought the approval of the ASI to access the material and prepare the reports. Since all the related materials are in Chennai, I will begin preparing the reports soon," Sriraman was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

This development follows the ASI’s recent request to archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishna to revise and resubmit his reports on Keezhadi’s first two excavation phases. Ramakrishna declined, standing by his conclusions.

Ramakrishna’s early findings unearthed brick structures and artefacts suggesting an urban civilisation in Tamil Nadu since the Sangam Age.

He was later transferred to Assam in 2017, after which Sriraman took over and reported that there was no continuity in the previously discovered brick structures.

Since 2017, the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) has been conducting the Keezhadi excavations starting from Phase IV.

By 2024–25, the project had reached its tenth phase, yielding hundreds of antiquities.

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