Keeladi
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Keeladi கீழடி Keezhadi, Keelady |
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|---|---|
| village | |
 Keeladi
Keeladi
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| Coordinates: 9°51′47″N 78°10′56″E / 9.8630727°N 78.1820931°ECoordinates: 9°51′47″N 78°10′56″E / 9.8630727°N 78.1820931°E | |
| Country | India |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| District | Sivagangai |
| Block | Thirupuvanam |
| Government | |
| • Body | Panchayat |
| Elevation | 123 m (404 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 5,140 |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 630611 |
| Telephone code | 0452 |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Sivagangai |
Keeladi, also spelled Keezhadi, is a small village near Silaiman on the border between Madurai and Sivagangai districts in Tamil Nadu, India. Palli Chandai is a famous location near Keeladi.
An Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavation in Keeladi revealed a Sangam era settlement dated to 2nd century BCE by radiocarbon dating. The Roman artifacts found at the site add to the evidence of ancient trade relations between the Romans and the Pandya kingdom.
Since 2013, archaeological excavation has been carried out from Theni to Ramanathapuram along the banks of the Vaigai. An estimated 293 sites have been identified including temples, ports, small settlements and commercial sites. In March 2016, a group of archaeologists from Excavation Branch VI of the Archaeological Survey of India was able to excavate a major settlement at Keeladi, which appears to have been an industrial or commercially important settlement area near Keezhadi. The settlement is estimated to have covered around eighty acres Tamil culture.
The ASI normally conducts excavations at a major archaeological site for five seasons (years). In 2016-17, after the conclusion of the second season at Keeladi, the ASI transferred the Superintending Archaeologist (SA) K Amarnath Ramakrishna to its Guwahati circle. This caused a controversy in Tamil Nadu, leading to allegations that the ASI had deliberately transferred the SA to stall the project. K Amarnath Ramakrishna stated that he wanted to complete the excavation work at Keeladi, and challenged his transfer order before the Central Administrative Tribunal.
The ASI clarified that the transfer was ordered in accordance with the organization's policy, which mandates that the maximum tenure of an SA in a particular circle is only for two years. K Amarnath Ramakrishna had completed more than three years at the Bengaluru circle, under which the Keeladi site comes. So, ASI decided to replace him with P S Sriraman, who had earlier served as a Deputy SA in the Jodhpur circle. K Amarnath Ramakrishna was not the only officer to be transferred: 26 other officers had been transferred all over India. Moreover, the newly-appointed SA P S Sriraman was a native of Tamil Nadu.
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