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In southern Tamil Nadu, along the quiet curve of the Vaigai river, lies Keeladi, which until 2013, rarely featured in conversation beyond its proximity to the temple city of Madurai. But over the past decade, this unassuming patch of earth has become the unlikely site of one of India’s most charged archaeological and political debates. What began as a scientific excavation into ancient settlement patterns has turned into a flashpoint in a larger struggle over how Indian civilisation is remembered, narrated, and contested.
Today, Keeladi finds itself at the heart of a growing row between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led
