KORKAI
THOOTHUKUDI:
The ancient port city of Korkai is all set to be excavated after 52
years again. The Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology had surveyed the
region back in 1968 under the behest of Director R Nagaswamy and it is
said to be the first survey by the state in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile,
Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA) granted necessary
approvals to Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology to carry out the
excavations at Korkai, Adichanallur and Sivagalai among seven
archeological sites in the state for the financial year 2020-21.
Korkai,
the ancient historical village abound to Eral taluk (formerly
Srivaikuntam) in Thoothukudi, is located three-kilometers north of river
Thamirabarani and less than 8 kilometers from the shore of Bay of
Bengal. It is also 20 kilometer East of Adichanallur, another monumental
site, where one of the largest urn burials have been excavated.
Korkai
was popularly known for its pearl fishery and has a long history to
cherish finding its name in Tamil sangam literatures and also noted as
"Colchis" in Periplus of the Erythrean Sea which is a maritime traders'
guide belong to the mid-first century and "Kolkhoi" by Ptolemy who
visited the southern peninsula in the second century.
Historian
and retired professor A Sivasubramanian said that Korkai has been
referred to in various ancient Tamil literatures including
Silapathikaram, Kalithogai, Akananuru and Aingurunuru.
The
excavation conducted by Nagaswamy unearthed a structure with nine
courses of bricks in six rows at the depth of two-and-a-half feet from
surface level and three large sized rings placed one over the other,
below the brick course. Besides, potsherds bearing Tamil Brahmi letters
belonging to 300 BCE to 200 CE were found, and the charcoal samples
collected from the site were assigned to 785 BCE by the Tata Institute
of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. The previous archeological surveys have
brought to light the ruins of chankcutting factories, units for split
opening of pearl oysters at the site. Nagaswamy had dug five trenches
near Vanni tree and Vetrivel amman temple to unearth hundreds of
artefacts back then, said a senior official.
The
artefacts collected from Korkai in 1968 were initially stored at a
museum in Korkai village, however, it was shifted to Madurai and
Chennai, when the museum was closed in late 90's due to poor footfall,
said sources.
Pandyan port Korkai
The
historians say, Korkai was once a major port during the Pandyan era
who had a thick maritime trade with Roman empire and overseas countries.
"The researchers have found Roman ware and rouletted ware from Korkai.
The villagers still find a huge number of chunks and oysters shells and
coins of different ages when they dig a few feet down the earth", says
Tamil writer Muthalankurichi Kamarasu.
"The
present Gulf of Mannar of east coast was mentioned as the "Colchic
Gulf" in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea due to the prominence of
Korkai at that time, said Sivasubramanian.
Contending
the poor attention given to the archaeological sites, Sivasubramanian
said that the statue of Jain Tirthankar which was near the Vanni tree is
now missing.
Korkai lost its prominence after the 5th century AD when the Pandyan kingdom's capital was shifted to Madurai, he added.
Birbal
Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Department of Science and
Technology, scientist Mordhagai, the sea had receded nearly 8 kilometre
over the past 2000 years. The Palaeo-channels traced from the satellite
imagery have indicated that the river has gradually shifted its course
from east and south, he said, still he is studying to establish it based
on the presence of microorganisms.
Around Korkai
It
is pertinent to note that Korkai has a 2000-year-old "Vanni tree" still
standing green and it has become a tourist site. The centuries old
Vetrivel Chezhiya Nangai Amman temple on the Korkaikulam tank is
remembered as an old port and district administration had raised an
arch. An ancient stone temple Akasalai Eswaramudaiyar temple having
stone inscriptions and the adjacent Akasala street, which has its
reference to the Silapathikaram, are still evident to the ancient port
city.
"The
stone inscription at the Akasalai Eswaramudaiyar temple remains
blemished as it had been painted over", says Korkai locals and needs
protection even though the archeological department officials had taken
its imprints.
A
few kilometers downstream, a big brick structure came to light near
Authoor-Mukkani bridge when river Thamirabarani dried a couple of years
ago. There were stone pillars, arts and bricks. The structure appeared
to be a big circle, and seemed to be a boat jetty, said Kamarasu.
Excavation in 2021
An
archaeologist told TNIE that they are intended to excavate the Korkai
cluster villages - Arumugamangalam, Maramangalam, Agaram in the
surrounding, to find the traces of ancient ports and boat jetties. We
study the are geologically and scientifically when the sea receded, he
said.
As
of now, the archaeologists had marked areas for excavation around 40
metre away from the site formerly excavated by Nagaswamy.
The
archaeologists said that the Srivaikuntam panchayat union had handed
over the tourist interpretation centre to the department of archaeology
for storing the antiquities to be unearthed from the site.
Subramanian,
a local villager said that the Department of archaeology should bring
back the Museum to Korkai so that many tourists visit the place. "The
tourist interpretation centre should be converted into an Archaeological
Information Centre to guide the tourists", he said.
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