Adichanallur Museum Aligns With PM Modi-Led Govt's Efforts To Ensure Cultural Integrity: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid the foundation stone for an archeological museum at Adichanallur in Thoothukudi.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman laid the foundation stone for an archeological museum in Adichanallur in Thoothukudi office. The site is located on the banks of river Tamirabarani. Adichanallur was declared as one of the five archaeological sites for development as 'Iconic Sites' in Union Budget 2020-21. The FM was accompanied by DMK MP Kanimozhi, Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan and Vice President of Tamil Nadu BJP Sasikala Pushpa.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Nirmala Sitharaman's office said, "@nsitharaman visits Adichanallur, an archaeological site located on the bank of Tamirabarani (Porunai) river in Thoothukudi District of Tamil Nadu. Adichanallur was one of the five archaeological sites declared to be developed as ‘Iconic Sites’ in Union Budget 2020-21."

After the inauguration, FM said, "This initiative aligns with the broader efforts of PM Modi's government to ensure the cultural integrity of the nation by celebrating and organising events such as the Kashi Tamil Sangaman and Saurashtra Tamil Sangaman."

Adichanallur is referred to as 'Parambu' meaning a dry elevated mound. The exploration and excavation of the site was started by ASI, Trichy Circle. The archaeological excavation at Adichanallur again commenced on October 10, 2021 as part of Iconic Site development. 

Her office said in a series of tweet, "The entire site/mound has been divided into three localities namely Locality- A, B & C based on the Geographic and Archaeological features. At Locality C, toughened glass has been used in order to preserve the artefacts."

"The extensive urn burial site at Adichanallur was first discovered by Dr. Jagor of Berlin Museum in 1876. Englishman Alexander Rea excavated a good number of urns during 1910s and discovered gold diadems with parallels from Mycenae, bronze objects, notably lids with exquisite finials depicting many animal forms, iron objects besides thousands of potsherds. The excavation was resumed during 2003-04 and 2004-05," said the office of the union finance minister.