History & Culture
Porunai Archaeological Museum
- CONTEXT: This museum showcases the historical significance of the Porunai (Thamirabarani) river and the Tamil civilization.
- Purpose: To showcase the artefacts excavated at the ancient archaeological sites of Adichanallur, Sivakalai, and Korkai in Thoothukudi district, and Thulukkarpatti in Tirunelveli district.
- Location: Built on 13 acres near Reddiyarpatti hillock on the outskirts of Palayamkottai,
Major Highlights:
- Sivakalai Block
- Demonstrated the Tamils’ expertise in making iron tools and weapons
- The burial urns, bronze vessels, iron tools and weapons, multi-coloured earthenware, tiles with various signs, and ‘Thamizhi’ letters.
- Adichanallur Block
- Adichanallur, the cradle of civilisation on the banks of the Tamirabharani.
- Showcases burial urns, iron tools, offering pots, earthenware, and pottery tiles with Thamizhi letters.
- The 21 baked earthen pipes excavated at Adichanallur show the ancient Tamils’ expertise in using these pipes for diverting water for irrigation.
- Korkai
- The port town of the Pandya Kingdom
- The glass beads and bangles, conch bangles, terracotta beads, stone beads, terracotta figures and pipes, copper coins, and Roman and Chinese pottery tiles excavated at Korkai.
- Korkai’s pearl fishery, and deep sea diving skills of ancient Tamils add colour to the museum.
- Thulukkarpatti
- The excavations done at Thulukkarpatti in Tirunelveli district.
- Silver coins, earthen jewels, glass jewels, polished tiles, a range of iron tools, terracotta figures, and pots with Thamizhi letters are excavated.
- The research done on the artefacts of Thulukkarpatti and Indus Valley civilisations have yielded a lot of similarities between the two civilisations.
The museum features:
- Digitally recreated iron smelting processes
- 5D immersive experiences of the Tamil landscape
- Virtual boat rides and river valley civilization exhibits
- Interactive walls, touchscreens, and digital communication centres
- Design
- Museum featuring Chettinad and local architecture.
- This structure has been built by combining traditional architectural style and modern technology.
- Carbon Dating
- The Beta Analytics Laboratory in Miami, U.S., while analysing the paddy grains collected from a burial urn excavated at Sivakalai in 2021, determined that the foodgrain dated back to 1,155 BC, proving that Tamils living along the Tamirabharani had cultivated paddy 3,200 years ago.
- The carbon dating done on the iron tools recovered from Adichanallur and Sivakalai has rewritten the hypothesis of the Iron Age.
- While the iron recovered at Sivakalai belonged to 3,300 BC, the metal artefact excavated at Adichanallur was from 2,613 BC.
- Hence, this carbon dating has proved that Tamils had used iron even 5,300 years ago.
Environment
Tamil Nadu to Conduct Statewide Hornbill Population Survey
- Context: Forest officials in Tamil Nadu are planning to launch an extensive field exercise to determine the population of hornbills across forest landscapes.
- Aim : To protect habitat, particularly the conservation of large, mature trees with natural hollows that hornbills depend on for nesting.
- The first phase will cover the Anamalai, Srivilliputhur–Megamalai, and Kalakkad–Mundathurai tiger reserves, along with the Karamadai and Mettupalayam ranges under the Coimbatore forest division.
- Four species are expected to be documented during the survey — the Great Hornbill, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Indian Grey Hornbill, and Malabar Pied Hornbill.
- In July this year, the State government announced the establishment of the country’s first Centre of Excellence for Hornbill Conservation at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Coimbatore district.
- IUCN Status of Hornbill- Vulnerable.
Waxen Tiger Beetle
- Waxen Tiger Beetle (Lophyra Cerina) a critically endangered species has been sighted again in then red sand Their forest of Thoothukudi.
Project for smooth-coated otters
- Tamil Nadu has launched a special conservation project for the smooth-coated otter in the Cauvery Delta region.
- This initiative addresses the increasing human-wildlife conflicts.
- Smooth-coated otters
- Smooth-coated otters are the largest otter species in Asia.
- They are listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List.
- This species is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Awards
Tamil Isai Sangam Awards
- Bharatanatyam dancer Chitra Visweswaran was conferred the title Isai Perarignar for her distinguished contribution to Bharatanatyam and her engagement with Tamil music traditions.
- The title Pann Isai Perarignar (scholar of melodic Tamil music) was conferred on Kudanthai V. Lakshmanan, a veteran exponent and researcher of Tamil pann music.
