‘Porunai Archaeological Museum will be inaugurated before Pongal’

Explore the upcoming Porunai Archaeological Museum in Tirunelveli showcasing ancient Tamil civilization artifacts before Pongal 2025.

The ‘Porunai Archaeological Museum’, which is being built on 13 acres of land at the cost of ₹ 33.02 crore on Palayamkottai outskirts to showcase the artefacts excavated from the ancient Tamil civilization sites like Aditchanallur, Korkai and Sivakalai, will be ready for inauguration before Pongal 2025.

 “Since the civil work of the museum will be completed by September this year and other works by December, the ‘Porunai Archaeological Museum’ will be inaugurated before ‘Pongal’ as Tamil Nadu Government’s ‘Thamizhar Thirunaal’ gift,” said Minister for Finance and Electricity, Thangam Thennarasu after inspecting the ongoing construction of the museum on Wednesday.

 After the foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on May 18, 2023, physical work on the museum started. It has been designed with local flavor architecture with courtyard, stone pillars, verandah etc. The museum coming up near Sivanthipatti hillock on the Kanniyakumari – Madurai 4-lane national highway with 54,296 square feet will showcase the artefacts retrieved during excavation at Aditchanallur, Korkai and Sivakalai, all places of 3000-year-old Tamil civilization in neighbouring Thoothukudi district.

 Separate buildings in stilt plus one format are under construction for housing the artefacts retrieved at Aditchanallur, Korkai and Sivakalai, that include articles used by the ancient Tamils and the products explaining their maritime skills. Once the civil work is completed by September, installation of the artefacts with relevant information with soothing lighting will commence.

 “We’ve a lot of plans for this museum to make it more attractive with the help of Artificial Intelligence and other technological advancements, for which additional financial allotment will be made” Mr. Thangam Thennarasu said.

 The minister informed that only native species trees and flowering plants, which have found place in ancient Tamil literatures, would be planted within the campus of the museum as part of the landscaping.

 When asked if the campus would also provide space for adventure sport like zip-line since the museum is coming up on the slope of Reddiyarpatti hillock, Mr. Thangam Thennarasu said more attractions would be created as the footfall goes up.