The New Indian Express ·
IIT-B gets ASI nod for excavation at 2,000-year-old burial sites in Kodaikanal
CHENNAI: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has granted approval to IIT Bombay for archaeological excavation at Kundadi (Maachur) inside Palani Hills forest in Kodaikanal of Dindigul district, where groups of iron-age megalithic burials have been identified. The proposal is currently pending with the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu.
The project, titled “Mortuary Landscape of Southern India”, is aimed at shedding light on burial practices, belief systems, and social and cultural life around 2,000 years ago.
Comparatively little archaeological work has examined megalithic burials in the Western Ghats, making the Palani Hills excavation significant, said Smriti Haricharan, who has been named the excavation director. Haricharan is an associate professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Bombay.
