Stalin visits Keeladi excavation site

Chennai, Oct 29 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday visited the Keelavadi excavation site, near Madurai, and interacted with officials including of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).The state government is building a museum at Keeladi at a cost of Rs 12.21 crore in a two-acre campus to display the artefacts unearthed from the excavation. Brick structures, terracotta ring wells, fallen roofing with tiles, golden ornaments, terracotta chess pieces, ear ornaments, figurines, black and redware, and even beads made of glass, terracotta, and semi-precious stones were found at the site.Excavations were undertaken at Keeladi after beta analysis in the US of articles found at the site showed that they date from the period between the 6th century BCE and 1st century CE. ASI officials made a PowerPoint presentation to the Chief Minister on the volume of excavations done so far.Stalin was accompanied by ministers K. R.Periakaruppan, Thangam Thenarasu, K.K.S.S.R Ramachandran, Raja Kannappan, and P. Moorthy.The Chief Minister later paid homage to the CPI-M leader N. Nanmaran at the CPI-M office in Madurai city. The two-time former MLA had passed away at the Government Rajaji hospital on Thursday.Stalin had earlier in the day arrived in Madurai in a scheduled airline and was accorded a rousing welcome at the airport. Several ministers including state Finance Minister P.T.R. Thiaga Rajan were present at the airport to welcome him.
--IANS aal/vd

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