Rs 12.21 crore world class museum for Keeladi artifacts: Edappadi K Palaniswami
Chennai: A state-of-the art world class museum to exhibit the hundreds of artifacts unearthed during excavations at Keeladi in Sivagangai district, where remnants of an ancient Tamil civilization along the Vaigai river bank have been found, will be established at a cost of Rs. 12.21 crore, Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami announced here on Friday.
Presiding over a grand function to celebrate the state’s formation day, called ‘Tamil Nadu Naal Vizha’, Mr. Palaniswami said the museum will be set up at Kundhakai village near Thirubhuvanam in Sivaganga district. The artifacts on display will help people know, understand and appreciate the uniqueness and ancientness of Tamil culture and the government’s aim was to facilitate it, he said.
Stating that the ‘Tamil Nadu Naal Vizha’ will be celebrated every year on November 1, Mr. Palaniswami said this was to sensitize the younger generation to the historical circumstances, background and leaders involved in carving out the state of Tamil Nadu, in the wake of the reorganization of states in 1956 on linguistic basis. The new Madras State was later rechristened Tamil Nadu in 1967.
Mr. Palaniswami said even as Tamil Nadu has been consolidating on various fronts since Independence, the state’s tourism potential was enormous. Tamil Nadu now topped in the number of foreign and domestic tourists received for any particular state in the last four years, he cited to drive home his point. “We have also been implementing various schemes for the development of Tamil language,” he said.
For instance, he said the State government has given Rs.10 crore for the Tamil Chair at Harvard University in the US. The government’s specially launched portal ‘Yaadum Oore’ to attract more investments from the Tamil NRIs’ has evoked a good response, the Chief Minister said, adding, the State has also donated Rs. five crore for constructing buildings for a school by the Delhi Tamil Sangam in Mayurvihar.
Deputy Chief Minister, Mr. O. Panneerselvam, Tamil Culture minister Ma. Foi. K. Pandiyarajan, Fisheries minister, D Jayakumar, Chief Secretary K Shanmugam and other top officials were among those who participated in the function.
