Cultural Geopolitics and Territorial Legitimacy in the River Vaigai– Keeladi Civilisation: Sacred Landscapes, Urban Heritage, and Contemporary Extensions

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive examination of the cultural–geopolitical foundations of the Vaigai–Keeladi civilisation, a discovery that has significantly reshaped the scholarly understanding of early urbanism and cultural development in Tamil Nadu. The emergence of Keeladi—situated along the Vaigai River in the Sivaganga district near Madurai—as a major urban centre of the Sangam era provides compelling evidence of a highly organised, literate, and craft-specialised society. Far from representing a peripheral settlement, Keeladi demonstrates the presence of an advanced urban culture with structured habitation, industrial activity, interregional exchange networks, and a sophisticated material life. As such, the site stands as an important civilisational marker that bridges archaeological data with broader questions of cultural continuity, territorial identity, and political imagination.