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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.
