Poompuhar:Scientists to digitally recreate Tamil Nadu port city

News:The Department of Science and Technology (DST) has launched ‘Project Digital Poompuhar’ to recreate the Chola Dynasty port city,Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu.

Facts:

About Poompuhar:

• Poompuhar was once an ancient port city which served as the capital of the early Chola kings in Tamilakam.It is also mentioned in works of Sangam Tamil literature.
• The port city flourished in inter-continental trade but shifted with time. Finally,it was re-established at the present location at the mouth of the river Cauvery around 3,000 years ago.
• The shifts took place due to the continuous kadalkol or rising sea levels and the submergence of the delta.

About the project:

• The reconstruction of Poompuhar is a part of DST’s Indian Digital Heritage(IDH) project.An exhibition of its first project ‘Digital Hampi’ is currently on display at the National Museum.
• The project involves underwater surveys and photography by remotely operated vehicles and remote sensing-based geodynamic studies to bring out comprehensive information on the time series evolution and extinction.
• It also involves the visualisation of geodynamic processes of the last 20,000 years like land subsidence, sea-level rise, Cauvery’s migration, floods, tsunami, cyclones and erosion.

Additional information:

About India Digital Heritage Project:

• India Digital Heritage is a unique initiative by the Department of Science and Technology(DST).
• The initiative supports collaborative projects between researchers in the areas of Technology and Humanities for digital documentation and interpretation of our tangible and intangible heritage.