These New Tamil Nadu Museums Tell You What Life Was Like In The Region Once Upon A Time

Over the past three weeks, two pre-Pongal releases have been playing out at the Porunai museum in Tirunelveli, each film telling a different tale of Tamil Nadu’s past, and both drawing more than one lakh people from varied age groups.

The first stars the river Tamirabarani, tracing its course from the Podhigai hills in the Western ghats to the plains, the immersive film offering a 180-degree view of forests, wildlife from elephants to lion-tailed macaques, and cascading waters. Occasionally, one also bounces with the water from cliffs, with water sprinkling on the face.


The second film gives one the experience of a boatride from the sea to the ancient port of Korkai, where one sees Greeks, Romans and locals trading wines and gold for pearls. Viewers experience how goods were brought to these shores as well as view the ancient art of pearl fishing with traditional divers descending into the waters of the Gulf of Mannar with stone weights and gathering oysters in waist bags.

The immersive films at Porunai museum are just a sample of what’s to come, says archaeological commissioner T Udhayachandran. Tamil Nadu will soon have more than five museums, each in a different region and with a different theme, from maritime trade, bead-making technology and iron smelting, to hero stones, evolution of Tamil script and epigraphy, prehistoric tools and irrigation technology, land reforms and overseas naval victories of the Cholas.

“We will display artefacts found during excavations. The immersive technological components we hope will attract the younger crowd,” he says.

Visitors can also experience how stone and iron tools were made. The technology museum at Erode will have a workshop where visitors can buy stone beads, pottery and other ornaments.

The museums will feature interactive videos that simulate creating stone flakes, hammer stones, spearheads and swords to help children experience early technologies. Visitors can also play traditional games such as pandiyattam.

The culture museums at Mamallapuram and Tiruvannamalai will spotlight the antiquity and uniqueness of the Tamils. “Mamallapuram will host a modern world-class museum, which will feature the highlights from all regions,” says Udhayachandran. “The museums will also serve food from the region.”

A museum to trace social transformation through hero stones will come up at Dharmapuri, while another at Poondi is likely to be upgraded with prehistoric tools and demos of how they were made.

“The Navaai museum in Alagankulam will showcase ancient maritime trade routes, export-oriented production centres, trade guilds, ships, navigation technologies and empires that had trade links with ancient Tamil Nadu,” says professor K Rajan, academic and research adviser, Tamil Nadu department of archaeology. “We hope the new museums will inspire youngsters to learn about the evolution of industry, technology and language in Tamil Nadu.”

FOUR TO THE FORENaavai Museum

Alagankulam in Ramanathapuram
The museum will focus on Tamil Nadu's maritime heritage, which had links with the ports in south east Asia, the west and Sri Lanka. The galleries will focus on traditional navigation methods, boat building techniques, trade guilds, maritime trade routes and goods, and evidence of trade found in foreign countries.

Budget: Rs35cr

Status: Land acquired; work to begin soon


Chola Museum

Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Ariyalur


Galleries will showcase how the Chola's built an empire through irrigation technologies, land reforms, their military expeditions across India and naval expeditions to south east Asian countries, their contribution to arts and culture in the medieval period.

Budget: Rs22cr

Status: Work in progress

Noyyal museum

Perundurai in Erode
This museum will bring the history of science and technology to the fore with exhibits on textile technology, copper smelting, iron smelting, steel making, shell and gemstones. Museum will highlight how these industries generated wealth, their interactions with far-off lands including Afghanistan and Gujarat to acquire semi-precious stones such as agate, carnelian and lapis lazuli for bead making and steel exports.

Budget: Rs35cr

Status: Land acquired
Modern Tamil culture museum

Mamallapuram
The museum will present the cultural history of Tamil Nadu. A similar museum may be set up in Tiruvannamalai.

Budget: Rs75cr

Status: Land identified



Email your feedback with name and address to southpole.toi@timesofindia.com