Tags: Tamil Nadu , Tiruchirappalli

Tiruchirappalli (TN), Dec 12: An ancient habitation dating to the ninth century has been unearthed recently at Oliyamangalam near Karayur in Pudukottai district, official sources said.

A team led by an epigraphist K Rajendran, former curator of Pudukottai government museum, J Raja Mohammed and curator C Govindaraj unearthed material confirming the existence of a habitation in the area during the period of the ancient Pandiyas.

"Brick works, beads and other domestic items collected in the area talk of a civilization," they said.

They described the unearthing of a long, thick underground pipe from a house as an "interesting finding", which proved that an underground drainage system existed during the period.

Raja Mohammed said the village was originally called Ollaiyur in ancient literature and megalithic dolmens had already been found there.

They also unearthed an idol of Chandikeswarar dating to 862 AD from the site.

The research on the site suggested that the local Sri Varaguniswarar temple belonged to ninth century. The temple fell into ruin and a new structure with later architecture style was constructed, retaining the name of the God. Some old pottery was also unearthed from this vast stretch of agricultural land.

They have requested state archaeological department to conduct more research in the site, hoping that it will reveal more facts about the history of the site.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Add to del.icio.us | digg this | Stumble It