00:00In short, if I say what is Patanam, I think I can say that Patanam is an early historic urban settlement
00:11having trade relations with the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia,
00:18including all most parts of India, Sri Lanka and nearby areas.
00:30Patanam is an early historic urban settlement having trade relations with the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia,
00:36including all most parts of India, Sri Lanka and nearby areas.
00:52I didn't know what excavation was.
00:56I didn't know what excavation was.
01:01When I went there, I was told that I was under the supervision of two supervisors.
01:06When I went there, I was told that I was under the supervision of two supervisors.
01:11One of them was Rajakrishnan from Paragadu.
01:15I thought that if I worked for a day, I would get this much.
01:21But after two days, I understood the importance of it.
01:25I think the trial excavation was done in 2005.
01:28But from 2004 onwards, we were exploring the area.
01:33It was a very detailed exploration.
01:35Myself and my mother were usually visiting.
01:38I remember that during the tsunami, we were on this side.
01:43Then KCHR organised a large-scale excavation.
01:51That started in 2007 and ended in 2015.
02:21One other important aspect of Patanam is that it is an urban site.
02:33Why do we say it is an urban site?
02:35There are mainly three or four archaeological sites,
02:39like the nomenclature for an urban site.
02:42You see Patanam, Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro.
02:46We clearly established that these are all urban centres.
02:56As an archaeological site, initially people were not familiar with this site,
03:03or its potential, or what we want to convey to the people.
03:08So initially they were suspicious.
03:11But later on, when they got to know that this is a historically important site,
03:16and what we are trying to portray is actually beneficial to the local community.
03:22So later on they became cooperative.
03:26At that time, the director was a vegetarian.
03:29After doing the work, I understood the importance of it.
03:34I asked him why he was doing this.
03:38In the olden days, people lived here for a long time,
03:43and they understood the life and culture of the people here
03:48only when they got these kinds of things.
04:08KCHR
04:25Certainly some people in social media,
04:28it's not like right-wing or the left kind of politics,
04:33but they are trying to say that KCHR,
04:36or this organisation is portraying this as Musiris.
04:39So Patanam is not Musiris, whether Patanam is Musiris or not.
04:43Such kind of narratives are there.
04:45But we are not necessarily saying this is Musiris.
04:48But it can be something, part of a larger Musiris area.
04:53This work is not only for Hindus or any other sect.
05:02Not only Hindus, but other people also know about this.
05:10So my opinion is that Hindus should not have such an opinion.
05:14Because this is done for the country, not just for a sect.
05:19So I am not interested in that.
05:32When we have evidence for something that we want to say,
05:35we are not going to say ultimately.
05:37But when we have facts, and when we have corroborating facts with it,
05:42then definitely we will be presenting it as a historical narrative.
05:46So whatever we say, whether it be the St. Thomas Christian's origin,
05:51or whether the Cheraman Perumal legend, as you know,
05:54or whatever Parashurama legend,
05:56if it passes the test of the history or evidence,
06:01it necessarily is a historical fact.
06:05As a historical methodologist, E. H. Carr has said,
06:10it's like we are picking from a market a good fish or a bad fish.
06:15We have to know the methodology, whether it is a good historical fact,
06:20or simply something that people are saying.
06:25And we as historians, we are not going to believe hearsays.
06:28We need proper evidences or strong proofs for that.
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