Tamil Land Cradle of Indian Civilisation, Porunai Museum Scientifically Proves Antiquity: MK Stalin

Reiterating that Tamil landscape was the cradle as well as the pinnacle of Indian civilization, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Sunday asserted that archaeological excavations offer proof for this and the second museum, Porunai’, established by his government at Tirunelveli is an effort at scientific validation of Tamil’s antiquity.

The Chief Minister, describing the Tamil Vs Sanskrit North as a 2000-year-old war, made it clear that the DMK government was making every effort to keep aloft Tamil antiquity and pride.

“Our culture is distinctive and progressive. The Tamil landscape was the cradle as well as the pinnacle of the civilisation in the Indian subcontinent. We have literary evidence to attest to this. But to scientifically validate them, we carry out archaeological excavations, to travel back in time. That is why we are talking about Porunai and Keezhadi, collecting historical data of our ancient history,” he said addressing a government function at Palayamkottai town in Tirunelveli, a day after inaugurating the Porunai museum.

“We continue to expose how the BJP-led union Government is blocking and obstructing the archaeological excavations being carried

out by us. They do not want anything that offers valid proof for Tamil’s antiquity to be touched upon. If carried out, they would not publish the findings. As such, our steadfast fight is against those who harbour a deep-rooted hatred for Tamil language and the Tamils. Those who are chasing the mythical Saraswati civilisation are unwilling to recognise our findings,” he said adding, “But, we cannot

give up our duty. Never. We can’t abandon our history. For, it is a 200-year-old war, in which we cannot be defeated.”

The Chief Minister also extended an invite to Prime Minister N arendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to visit the Porunai museum so that they see for themselves the antiquity of Tamil and the ancient Indian civilisation and the archaeological findings.

The Porunai museum and the one at Sangam-era site at Keezhadi near Madurai, he said is intended to take our history and rich legacy to the people and make them aware of it. “Only those who read history can create it and be propelled to move forward rather than remaining in the past. And Porunai remains a shining identity of Tamil’s antiquity and a treasure for the Tamils across the globe to be visited,” he later said in a post on ‘X’.

Taking the pride of Tamil antiquity to posterity is the sprawling 13-acre museum, housing the artefacts from Sivagalai, the oldest iron age site in the world predating Anatolia in Turkey and other places, as well as other antiquities from Athichanallur at Tirunelveli.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 62 crore, it has been christened as ‘Porunai Museum’ since Porunai is the classical name of the perennial river Thamirabarani, a cradle of civilisation. Archaeology has become a pillar of Tamil pride.

The museum will house iron age tools and implements of Sivagalai which have pushed back the use of smelted iron by over a millennium besides skulls, burial urns and pots with ancient Tamil script, ‘Tamizhi’, predating the Ashokan Brahmi script, excavated from nearby Athichanallur. Also showcased are artefacts from Korkai, the ancient bustling southern port city of the Pandya kingdom.

For the ruling DMK and activist Tamil scholars, the new iron age finding at Sivagalai is not yet another archaeological discovery, but

a revelation bringing a paradigmatic shift about Tamil’s antiquity over Sanskrit north India. No wonder, it had opened up a debate as it precedes the traditionally accepted timeline of iron age in India – 1800 BCE, on the basis of findings at Malhar and other places in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier this year, on January 23, Stalin releasing the report on Sivagalai, backed by carbon dating evidence, made it clear that the findings were integral to regional identity and said “Not just in India, I declare to the world that production of iron commenced in Tamil soil. Iron smelting technology was introduced in the Tamil land 5,300 years ago. We have been proving our history scientifically to those who mocked that our literature can never be evidence.”