Steps being taken to bring back 5,000-odd Adichanallur artefacts from foreign museums, says Nirmala Sitharaman

The Union Finance Minister said these artefacts, along with the many burial urns and other artefacts unearthed from the excavation in Adichanallur, would be displayed at the world-class museum that is to come up on the Tirunelveli – Tiruchendur Road

Steps are being taken to bring back over 5,000 artefacts that were excavated in Adichanallur, in Thoothukudi district, but were taken to foreign museums in the past, Union Minister for Finance, Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for the museum in Adichanallur on Saturday, Ms. Sitharaman said the excavation in the ‘parambu’ in Adichanallur had yielded several 3,400-year-old burial urns, containing the remains of people from all walks of life, as well as clothes, drinking water, jewels, foodgrains like rice, millets etc., all of which had been placed inside the urns as a mark of respect for the dead.

While the artefacts being unearthed from this site would be showcased in the world-class museum to come-up at Adichanallur with sufficient funding of the Centre, the 5,000-odd artefacts taken either legally or illegally to various foreign museums would be brought back to this museum as steps had already been initiated in this direction, she said.

 The museum to come up here would use modern techniques including a QR Code system so that the visitors, while viewing the aesthetically-displayed artefacts, could easily understand their importance and history, she said.  “Since this museum is coming up on an advantageous site on the Tirunelveli – Tiruchendur Road, it will attract a huge number of visitors every day. Moreover, I’ve suggested to the Archaeological Survey of India officials to create an amphitheatre here, with light and sound shows to give visitors an idea about our ancient civilization through a modern approach,” Ms. Sitharaman said. .

The Union Minister said the Central government had allocated ₹6,000 crore to create 15 tourism circuits to connect 75 cultural and religious heritage sites in 30 States. While the Buddhist Circuit was eliciting keen interest from Japanese, Koreans, Sri Lankans, Cambodians and other toursists, the Ramayana Circuit, which would also include an ‘Ashokavanam’ in Sri Lanka, would be of great interest to Indians, she said.

“Similarly, we have created the Krishna Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Desert Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Tribal Circuit etc.,” the Minister said, adding that heritage towns and cities including Ajmir, Amaravati, Amritsar, Badami, Dwaraka, Gaya, Mathura, Puri, Velankanni, Warangal, Kancheepuram and Varanasi would be developed with better drainage and waste management facilities and tourist-friendly infrastructure on an outlay of ₹500 crore.

 The Minister appealed to corporate firms to adopt at least a heritage site or town. “Above all, the National Maritime Museum coming up at Lothal, of the Harappan era and the National Museum coming up by integrating the North and the South Blocks in Delhi on 1.17 lakh square metres, will showcase the nation’s ancient civilization with pride,” she said.