CHENNAI: Finance Secretary T Udhayachandran on Sunday narrated how an SMS (text message) to his mobile phone from a part-time teacher from Sivakalai in Srivaikuntam taluk of Thoothukudi district led to the determination of the Iron Age of Tamil Nadu 5,300 years ago.
Speaking at a session during the Tamil Diaspora Day 2026 celebrations, Udhayachandran recalled that when he was serving as the Commissioner of Archaeology years ago, Manickam, a part-time teacher from Sivakalai, sent an SMS informing him that certain archaeological objects in his place needed to be studied in depth.
“When my officers reached Manickam’s house, his wife said he would be loitering by the crematorium. To their surprise, Manickam was indeed there, located in the area where burial urns were found. The artefacts recovered there were sent to world-renowned laboratories, and the analysis revealed that the iron sword excavated at Sivakalai was 5,300 years old. From the laboratory findings, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that the history of the Indian subcontinent should be rewritten from the Tamil landscape,” Udhayachandran recalled.
In the next few years, very important findings about the ongoing archaeological studies would be announced, the finance secretary said.
Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurated the Tamil Diaspora Day 2026 celebrations in the presence of Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan.
The Deputy CM also presented certificates and prize cheques to 15 students who had won online competitions – in elocution, fancy dress and storytelling – conducted for children and youth from abroad and other states.
Referring to the theme of this year’s Tamil Diaspora Day — ‘Let us unite through Tamil; let us rise in the world’ — the Deputy CM said, “Tamil is the language that unites us all. Tamil does not discriminate, divide or differentiate among people. Our mother tongue Tamil treats everyone equally.”
He said that the identity of being a Tamil transcends and outweighs all other identities. The deputy CM observed that no community that fails to unite has ever achieved a great place in world history. “Therefore, the task of uniting Tamils living across the globe is extremely important, especially at this juncture. Even more important is the responsibility of safeguarding their welfare,” he added.
He also released a commemorative souvenir of Tamil Diaspora Day 2026 which was received by the water resources minister.
On behalf of the Tamil Nadu government, he also presented a veena as a token – representing the supply of musical instruments worth Rs 10 lakh to Mauritius – to Malaiyappan, Honorary Consul of Mauritius in Chennai.
