Urn-burial site found at Adichanallur tirunelveli

Urn-burial site found at Adichanallur By T.S. Subramanian ADICHANALLUR: (Tamil Nadu) An urn-burial site that dates back to 1000 B.C. is under excavation at Adichanallur, 24 km from Tirunelveli town in Tamil Nadu. The Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI), Chennai Circle, resumed digging there on February 8 after a gap of 100 years. So far, 20 urns, painted pot sherds, black ware and red ware have been unearthed. The burial site is adjacent to a lake on a huge mound on the southern bank of the Tamiraparani. T. Satyamurthy, Superintending Archaeologist and Director of the excavation at Adichanallur, said: "The pottery found near the urns date back to the megalithic period of 1,000 B.C. to 1st century A.D... followed by the early historic period which continued up to 6th century A.D." By custom, after the body is cremated, the bones are put in an urn. Often, the body was thrown to the elements or buried, the bones collected/exhumed later and interred in an urn. The mouth of the urn is covered by inverting another urn over it. This is called a "twin-pot" and such twin-pots have been unearthed at Adichanallur. Dr. Satyamurthy said that the urns found at the site conformed to the description of the ritual in Tamil Sangam literature — that an urn is inverted over another urn, that there are pots around and so on. For instance, there are descriptions of urn-burial in the Tamil epic, Manimekhalai, which belongs to the last period of the Sangam epoch. Earlier, Sangam works such as Natrinai, Paditrupattu andPurananuru give elaborate descriptions of this custom. When this reporter visited the site on March 2, excavation was under way. Workers were carefully digging the trenches, gingerly using chisels, or brushing away the earth found on the artefacts. Urns were jutting out of the earth here and there. Smaller pots were strung all round some of the urns. G. Thirumoorthy and M. Nambirajan, assistant archaeologists, and P. Aravazhi, research scholar, are guiding the excavation. According to Mr. Thirumoorthy and Mr. Nambirajan, the small pots strung around the urns would have contained the personal objects of the dead person such as ornaments, weapons or offerings like paddy or grains. "If we get grains, it will be useful for dating," they said. Among the artefacts discovered are hundreds of pot sherds with beautiful designs and graffiti, superbly-crafted pot spouts, tiered knobs to be fitted into the pot's lid, black ware, red ware, and black and red ware. One pot sherd had a twisted rope-like design running on it. Mr. Satyamurthy said: "So, we have pot sherds which may date back to 1000 B.C. When we scoop out the urns intact, we may get some organic material such as bones, wood or charcoal which can be dated even prior to 1000 B.C. Their date could be fixed using the Carbon-14 dating method. Another methodology was the archaeo-magnetic method, by which the curvature of the site was measured and this was used to determine the age of the pottery. "Once the date of the pottery is known, we will know the date of the site." The amateur British archaeologist, Alexander Rea, excavated the Adichanallur site for a few years from 1900. In his article, Prehistoric Antiquities in Tinnevelly, published in the ASI's Annual Report 1902-1903, Mr. Rea called the "Adittanallur" site "the most extensive prehistoric site as yet discovered in southern if not in the whole of India." "It covers an area of 114 acres, within which burial urns were found, at some places close together, and at others more widely apart. This site was first brought to notice in 1876, when it was visited by Dr. Jagor of Berlin." According to Mr. Rea, several thousand objects found at the burial site/inside the urns included finely made pottery, iron implements and weapons, vessels and ornaments in bronze, gold diadems, bones, stone beads, "some household stone implements used for grinding curry or sandalwood," traces of cloth and wood and mica. "Husks of rice and millet were found in quite a large number of pots inside the urns." The aim of the present excavation is to examine the site thoroughly, bring out its chronology and give a scientific date to it using the C-14 or archaeo-magnetic method. Another aim was to find out whether there was a habitational site nearby. "For burial sites generally formed part of the habitational sites," said Mr. Satyamurthy. Interestingly, the Adichanallur site was found near a lake just as the urn-burial site at Mangadu in Kollam district, Kerala, was found by the Ashtamudi Lake. "I did the excavation in Mangadu, where similar urn-burials were found. But the burials found at Adichanallur show the trend of an earlier phase, such as coarse pottery and hand-made pottery. So the date of Adichanallur may even be earlier than that of Mangadu," that is prior to 1000 B.C., he said.

The tulsi or holy basil

The tulsi or holy basil is an important symbol in the Hindu religious tradition and is worshiped in the morning and evening by Hindus at large. The holy basil is also a herbal remedy for a lot of common ailments. Here're top fifteen medicinal uses of tulsi.

 1. Healing Power: The tulsi plant has many medicinal properties. The leaves are a nerve tonic and also sharpen memory. They promote the removal of the catarrhal matter and phlegm from the bronchial tube. The leaves strengthen the stomach and induce copious perspiration. The seed of the plant are mucilaginous.
2. Fever & Common Cold: The leaves of basil are specific for many fevers. During the rainy season, when malaria and dengue fever are widely prevalent, tender leaves, boiled with tea, act as preventive against theses diseases. In case of acute fevers, a decoction of the leaves boiled with powdered cardamom in half a liter of water and mixed with sugar and milk brings down the temperature. The juice of tulsi leaves can be used to bring down fever. Extract of tulsi leaves in fresh water should be given every 2 to 3 hours. In between one can keep giving sips of cold water. In children, it is every effective in bringing down the temperature.
3. Coughs: Tulsi is an important constituent of many Ayurvedic cough syrups and expectorants. It helps to mobilize mucus in bronchitis and asthma. Chewing tulsi leaves relieves cold and flu.
4. Sore Throat: Water boiled with basil leaves can be taken as drink in case of sore throat. This water can also be used as a gargle.
5. Respiratory Disorder: The herb is useful in the treatment of respiratory system disorder. A decoction of the leaves, with honey and ginger is an effective remedy for bronchitis, asthma, influenza, cough and cold. A decoction of the leaves, cloves and common salt also gives immediate relief in case of influenza. They should be boiled in half a liter of water till only half the water is left and add then taken.
6. Kidney Stone: Basil has strengthening effect on the kidney. In case of renal stone the juice of basil leaves and honey, if taken regularly for 6 months it will expel them via the urinary tract.
7. Heart Disorder: Basil has a beneficial effect in cardiac disease and the weakness resulting from them. It reduces the level of blood cholesterol.
8. Children's Ailments: Common pediatric problems like cough cold, fever, diarrhea and vomiting respond favorably to the juice of basil leaves. If pustules of chicken pox delay their appearance, basil leaves taken with saffron will hasten them.
9. Stress: Basil leaves are regarded as an 'adaptogen' or anti-stress agent. Recent studies have shown that the leaves afford significant protection against stress. Even healthy persons can chew 12 leaves of basil, twice a day, to prevent stress. It purifies blood and helps prevent several common elements.
10. Mouth Infections: The leaves are quit effective for the ulcer and infections in the mouth. A few leaves chewed will cure these conditions.
11. Insect Bites: The herb is a prophylactic or preventive and curative for insect stings or bites. A teaspoonful of the juice of the leaves is taken and is repeated after a few hours. Fresh juice must also be applied to the affected parts. A paste of fresh roots is also effective in case of bites of insects and leeches.
12. Skin Disorders: Applied locally, basil juice is beneficial in the treatment of ringworm and other skin diseases. It has also been tried successfully by some naturopaths in the treatment of leucoderma.
13. Teeth Disorder: The herb is useful in teeth disorders. Its leaves, dried in the sun and powdered, can be used for brushing teeth. It can also be mixed with mustered oil to make a paste and used as toothpaste. This is very good for maintaining dental health, counteracting bad breath and for massaging the gums. It is also useful in pyorrhea and other teeth disorders.
14. Headaches: Basil makes a good medicine for headache. A decoction of the leaves can be given for this disorder. Pounded leaves mixed with sandalwood paste can also be applied on the forehead for getting relief from heat, headache, and for providing coolness in general.
15. Eye Disorders: Basil juice is an effective remedy for sore eyes and night-blindness, which is generally caused by deficiency of vitamin A. Two drops of black basil juice are put into the eyes daily at bedtime.