Porunai museum will be ready before Pongal: Minister
The ‘Porunai Archaeological Museum’, which is being built on 13 acres of land at a 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.
Over 50,000 sq.ft.
After the foundation was laid by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on May 18, 2023, work on the museum started. It has been designed incorporating elements of local architecture with courtyard, stone pillars, verandah, etc. The museum, coming up near Sivanthipatti hillock on the Kanniyakumari – Madurai fourlane national highway, with 54,296 squarefoot space will showcase the artefacts retrieved during excavation at Aditchanallur, Korkai and Sivakalai, all sites of 3000yearold Tamil civilization in neighbouring Thoothukudi district.
Once the civil work is completed by September, installation of the artefacts with relevant information with soothing lighting will commence.
When asked if the campus would also provide space for adventure sport like zipline 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.
Assembly Speaker M. Appavu, Collector K.P. Karthikeyan, MP S. Gnanathiraviam, Palayamkottai MLA M. Abdul Wahab, Mayor P.M. Saravanan, chairperson of Tamil Nadu Church Workers’ Welfare Board Vijila Sathyananth accompanied the Minister.
Study centre
Earlier, Mr. Thangam Thennarasu inaugurated a study centre at District Central Library, which has been created exclusively for the students preparing for competitive examinations with ₹20 lakh funding released from former Rajya Sabha MP Vijila Sathyananth from the Local Area Development Fund.