Sunday, November 20, 2011
MGS cmments on pattanam excavation
National Archaeological Meet-Prof MGS Asks KCHR to Hand Over Pattanam to ASI---P.J.Cherian Vehemently Criticized by Leading Archaeologists
http://expressbuzz.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/kchr-asked-to-hand-over-pattanam-excavation/333792.html
Last Updated : 16 Nov 2011 12:57:31 PM IST
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: M G S Narayanan, noted historian and Director General of the Centre for Heritage Studies has called upon the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) to hand over the excavation activity, being carried out at Pattanam, to the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).Presiding over the annual meet of the Archeologists held here the other day, he said that the KCHR had not been able to make considerable progress in the excavation so far. He said that the ASI, which is the representative body of the Archeologists in the country, had only the expertise to take up such a mammoth task and conduct it in a scientific manner.He expressed his displeasure over the KCHR’s decision to black out the media about the ‘meet’ fearing criticism from the archeologists across the country. The organisers in the State had neither invited the media nor given the details to it. When KCHR chairman P J Cherian presented the paper on Pattanam excavation, it invited severe criticism from eminent archeologists.The ASI, Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies and the Indian History and cultural Society jointly organised the meet. ASI Additional Director General Dr B R Mony, former deputy additional director general Dr K N Deekshith and Additional Chief Secretary K Jayakumar were present. Noted archeologist A Sundaraiah was honoured at the function.
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Wednesday, 16 November 2011
P.J.Cherian and Pattanam -The Integrity of excavations questioned by Indian Archaeologists at three day national conference at Thiruvananthapuram
At Thiruvananthapuram , on 11th November 2011 Prof MGS Narayanan in his presidential address at the annual conference of the Indian Archaeological Society, Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies and Indian History and Culture Society launched a scathing attack on Pattanam excavations and requested the Archaeological Survey of India to undertake the site.On 12th November 2011 eminent archaeologists questioned the integrity of Pattanam excavations. After P.J.Cherian presented his paper on Pattanam at the Indian Archaeological Society Session it was severely criticized. Prof A.Sundara leading archaeologist from Karnataka pointed out that there are no major structural remains at the site. He asked P.J.Cherian to precisely record and classify antiquities from each trench rather than pooling them together and interpreting them. Prof. Sundara told Cherian that such approaches are not adopted in field archaeology since cultural material from each trench has its validity. Prof .Sundara also pointed out that the claims of structural remains from Pattanam is questionable. Dr. K.N.Dikshit former Joint Director General of Archaeological Survey of India and Secretary of Indian Archaeological Society questioned the claims of P.J.Cherian that Historical Period at Pattanam goes around 1000 BC. K.N. Dikshit asked Cherian to be cautious and review such claims since Historical Period in Peninsular India has not gone beyond 200-300BC
Other archaeologists questioned Cherians claims of Pattanam as an urban site since nothing was seen in empty trenches when they visited Pattanam . To them Cherian told that he has left the site and structures in the trenches were carried away by local people for which he is not responsible.When he was again asked to clear as to how residential areas, streets , warehouses and wharfs can be carried away by people Cherian was silent and stood isolated.
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Sunday, 13 November 2011
Pattanam and P.J.Cherian: Prof. MGS Narayanan Launches Scathing Attack on Pattanam Ideology
Professor MGS Narayanan Former Chairman of ICHR and currently Director General of Centre For Heritage Studies, Thrippunithura, Kerala launched a scathing attack on Pattanam archaeological excavations and KCHR. He was delivering the Presidential address of the National Conference of three archaeological socities- The Indian Archaeological Society, Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies and Indian History and Culture Society on 11th November 2011 at Mar Gregorious Renewal Centre, Nalanchira Thiruvananthapuram.. Professor MGS Narayanan urged the Archaeological Survey of India to take up Pattanam excavations.The entire archaeological community from all over India numbering 200 and represented by the three socities applauded the suggestions put forward by MGS. Narayanan.Dr. K.N.Dikshit, fSecretary of Indian Archaeological Society and former Deputy Director General of Archaeological Survey of India, Dr. B.R.Mani, currently Additional Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, Professor P.K.Thomas and Professor Pramod Joglekar of Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies and Professor Vandana Kaushik and Professor Ashalatha Joshi of Indian History and Culture Society were present on the occasion.
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Monday, 7 November 2011
P.J.Cherian Dupes Press and Southern Naval Command.
To Press P.J.Cherian States He Discovered the Oldest Pier in the World. To Southern Naval Command He is Silent on Pier and Wharf and States on the Canoe at Pattanam.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-268270437.html
Accession Date and Time 08-11-2011; 8.15 AM
KOCHI, Sept. 29 -- The National Maritime Foundation (NMF) has honoured the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) with its excellence award.
KCHR Director P J Cherian received the award, consisting of a plaque and citation, from Vice-Admiral K N Sushil, flag officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command, at a function organised at the Naval Base. . J Cherian said that Pattanam excavations have unearthed the oldest ever pier in the world.sought the assistance of all in taking the Muziris Project forward and acknowledged the contributions of the Southern Naval Command in the underwater mapping of the area.
http://indiannavy.nic.in/PRel_110928_MuzirisProjectAward.pdf
Accession Date and Time 08-11-2011; 8.15 AM
National Maritime Foundation (NMF) has awarded the Excellence Award to
the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR). The award consisting of a plaque
and citation was accepted by Dr PJ Cherian, Director of KCHR from Vice Admiral KN
Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Southern Naval Command at an
impressive ceremony at the Southern Naval Command Officers Mess late evening
yesterday. .P Dr PJ Cherian in his acceptance speech informed the audience that the
Pattanam canoe could be one of the oldest found in an archaeological context in
South Asia.
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With Piracy Photos P.J.Cherian Argues Pattanam is Ancient Muziris
http://www.basas.org.uk/groups/ports.htm
Accession Date and Time 08-11-2011; 8.00AM
RESEARCH GROUPS
Ports and Indian Ocean Exchanges
Convenors: Dr R Tomber (British Museum, London, UK) & Prof PJ Cherian (Kerala Council for Historical Research, Trivandrum, India)
This international research group concentrates on Indian Ocean exchange of the Early Historic and Medieval periods, particularly seen through its ports, and the goods and ideas exchanged between them.
The convergence of textual and archaeological evidence during the Early Historic makes it and subsequent periods especially amenable to the study of exchange. Active archaeological research throughout the rim of the Indian Ocean is providing new finds and stimulating a growing interest in the subject. Informed speculation on the global nature of the economies of these periods can only now be attempted on the strength of this new information regarding the connections, exchanges and interaction among the different ethnic groups, trade sites and partners from different social and political systems.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tourism project at pattanam K N Panicker's Role
The Muziris Heritage Project- News
Authored by NSC- Admin on Sunday, April 8, 2007 17:05 - 9 Comments
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The Muziris Heritage Project
The Muziris Heritage Project is a novel attempt at the behest of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Govt of Kerala. It aims at retrieving the historical heritage of the Kodungallur-Paravur region and plans a combination of heritage management initiatives in its restoration, conservation and access to the public. KCHR, identified as the nodal agency for Muziris Heritage Project provides academic guidance and undertakes archaeological / historical research in the region. KCHR Chairman Dr. K.N.Panikkar submitted a concept note on Muziris Heritage Project pointing out the possibilities and potential of the proposal.1
Muziris muziris muziris muziris Pattanam area is MUZIRIS.700entries.....................
NowArchaeology and History is buried under Falsification of History. What are the Findigs to establishPattanam is Muziris?
Nothing more is there to establish Pattanam is Musiris
All these items are digged out -they report
How can we believe it?
the abandoned pits! in the next report
They are always giving False propaganda.Are these artifacts were brought from some where else?
"Many important finds were obtained like human bones, storage jars, a gold ornament, glass beads, stone beads, utilitarian objects made of stone, copper and iron, typical pottery, early Chera coins, brick wall, brick platform, ring well, wharf with bollards, and a six meter long wooden canoe parallel to the wharf structure about 2.5 m. below surface level"
MuzirisHeritageProject -Name used for collection of fundsfor Excavation expences says KCHR!!!!
Should tourism bury history?
DECCAN CHRONICLE -2-11-2011
The historical excavation project at Pattanam and Kodungalloor and the state tourism department's role in it, is proving to be a fiercely contentious issue.
Called the Muziris Heritage Tourism Project, the bone of contention is the very name of the project. Not only is it not clear that present day Pattanam is in fact the 3000-year-old port of Muziris, but turning it into a tourism project has raised the hackles of many historians who believe historical excavations and tourism should not be mixed.
Excavation at the two sites has been going on for the past five years. Remnants of amphora and other pottery pieces dating to the Roman, Parthian and Sassanian dynasties as well as some human skeletons have been recovered. Forty lakh artifacts, a majority of them belonging to the 15th century, have also been recovered.
The excavation is being handled by the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR), a government body, and some historians say that KCHR does not have the expertise to handle such an important project and it should be handed over to the Archaeological Survey of India.
The Muziris Heritage Tourism Project website goes one step further and establishes that “present Kodungallur had been named Mahodayapuram, Makothevarpattanam Muyirikkodu and Muziris by the Greeks and Romans, Shingly by the Jews, Cranganore by the Portuguese.“
“The present day Kodungallur, situated 30 km north of Cochin and believed to be Muziris of the past, is said to have been first occupied around 1,000 BC and continued to be active till the 13th century AD.”
The website further says: “The prosperous port of Muziris (Muziris Heritage Tour), at the mouth of the Periyar, overlooking the Arabian Sea was engulfed and silted over by the flooding of the river (in 1341), leaving its actual site to conjecture. The excavations (Muziris Heritage Excavations) by the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) in 2007 and 2008 unearthed the archaeological and historical evidence which confirmed its location.”
Prominent historian M.G.S. Narayan, questioning the premise that Pattanam is Muziris, says that the KCHR is making tall claims. “There are no archaeologists in the current team except Dr Selva Kumar of Tanjavur Tamil University. There is a hurry to establish that Pattanam is Muziris which is not correct. I suspect there was a politically corrupt design involving the previous LDF government behind the project,” he said.
He, however, added that so far the project has not done any damage, but the Archaeological Survey of India is the competent body to guide the project.
“In the first place Dr Cheriyan, who is the director of KCHR and who is controlling the present excavation, is not an archaeologist. Moreover, at this stage tourism should not be brought into the picture,” he said.
“There is an attempt to establish that Muziris was a Roman colony and had interactions with different nations at different times and hence what evolved was multi-culturalism. They are trying to showcase it as a tourism object. They mean to say that Kodungallur didn’t have a culture of its own,” says K. Satheesh Chandran, co-ordinator of Socio-Cultural and Development Studies, an NGO based in Kochi.
Unmindful of such criticism, the State Government is going ahead with the Muziris project and plans to inaugurate the first phase next April.
Tourism Minister A.P. Anilkumar said that the State Government proposes to showcase this unique project before the ambassadors of various nations in New Delhi in the immediate future.
Prof K.N. Panikkar, chairman of KCHR, said that the tourism component has been included in the project to raise money for it.
He also said that KCHR has not come to any conclusion that Pattanam is Muziris. He said that he stands by his comments two years ago that he was not happy about naming the project the Muziris Heritage Tourism Project.
He said he had expressed his concern that tourism should not be merged with historical heritage. Panicker had said then that “tourism as a possible source of revenue can be disastrous for the culture of a place.”
Director of the project and of KCHR, Prof P.J. Cherian, says there is an attempt to target him saying that he was not an archaeologist.
“I don't know what kind of expertise they mean. Very scientific work is going on at Pattanam. Such work has not been undertaken since 1946. This could be a knowledge-based tourism project,” he said.
Controversies apart, how to raise funds for an archaeological project is a key problem but showcasing it as a tourism landmark even before the artifacts are arranged, raises several questions.