TN to bear cost of carbon dating of artefacts found at Kodumanal

A division bench comprising Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice B Pugalendhi, passing orders on a batch of writ petitions relating to various archaeological excavations in Tamil Nadu, directed the government to pay Beta Analytic within 10 days after recording the undertaking by Raman of Beta Analytic that the samples, which were taken from Kodumanal excavation, would be sent to Beta centre at Pune, through courier.

“Raman, an archaeologist, had excavated Kodumanal during 2018-19 and found rare artefacts, including a potsherd with the first four alphabets of Tamil-Brahmi script written on it. It’s unique and found nowhere in India,” the bench recorded in its order.

Also, pointing out that the samples sent to Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) in July 2020 have not been tested till date, the bench directed the Central Government to file a status report in that regard before posting the case for further hearing to December 7.

Further, the bench led by Justice Kirubakaran directed the authorities to remove the cement Sivalinga erected on Yanaimalai, one of the ancient sites, in which Jain beds and Tamil Brahmi letters are found and report it to the court. The bench was informed that despite the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) lodging a complaint in this regard, the district administration was yet to act.

Besides seeking the State Government to pass orders on the proposal sent by the Archaeological Department to increase the number of caretakers in archaeological sites, the bench also sought the State to decide on increasing the salary of caretakers from the present Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000.

“The salary of Rs 5,000 is not enough and at least the minimum amount paid to the caretaker should be equivalent to the lower grade government servant. Otherwise, the caretaker will not show any interest to protect the sites,” the bench held while directing the government to take a decision and report the same before the court.

The bench was also informed that Bharathidasan University has been asked to inspect as to whether any artefact is available or not, by using modern techniques to ascertain whether the cemetery of Emperor Raja Raja Chola is located in Udayalur and a report in this regard is awaited.