Keeladi Museum, built at a cost of Rs 18 crore, was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on March 5, 2023. This episode discusses the museum and its significance. Spread over an area of 30,000 square feet, the museum will have six display halls – only ground floor in three, two with mezzanine floors and one with mezzanine and first floor – and an auditorium where visitors will be treated to documentaries on excavations in Keeladi and their significance. Just 12 km southeast of Madurai, Keeladi is located in Sivaganga district which is home to the Chettinad region of the state, and hence government decided to build the museum in conventional flavour. Red terracotta tiles adore the roof and upper portions of the campus, traditional Athangudi tiles, reflecting the architectural character of the region, are laid on the floor. The display halls have been designed in a way that they get natural sunlight and ample ventilation, while utmost care has been taken to perfect Chettinad architecture in pillars, and in courtyards, that will allow visitors to sit and enjoy the outer structures. Kal Mandapam (stone hall) which will also couple up as an open-air theatre will be used to host events.

Keeladi, 12 km south-east of Madurai, is the cynosure of all eyes. The Archaeological Survey of India, in 2014, began excavations in Keeladi and continued the digging till 2016. However, in 2017, the ASI announced there was no significant findings in Phase-III after the first two phases threw up 5,800 artefacts. The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court asked the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) to take over the excavations from 2018. In total, eight phases of excavations have been conducted in the past eight years.

This episode deals with the report submitted K Amarnath Ramakrishna, the Superintending Archaeologist who discovered Keeladi, on the first two phases of the excavation in the village. Listen to know exciting details about the urban site near Madurai.