Who's Who

Thiru. M.K.Stalin

Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu

Thiru. Thangam Thennarasu

Hon’ble Minister for Finance and Human Resources Management

Dr. K. Manivasan, I.A.S.,

Principal Secretary to Government, Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowment Department

Thiru. T. Udhayachandran, I.A.S

Commissioner [Full Additional Charge], Department of Archaeology

About us

The State Department of Archaeology was started in the year 1961 with the objectives of conservation and preservation of ancient monuments in Tamil Nadu, to conduct excavations at historical sites. Subsequently, its activities were expanded to include Epigraphy (copying and deciphering of stone inscriptions, printing and publishing them in book form), setting up of site museums, chemical preservation of art objects etc.The aim of the department is to showcase the rich heritage and glorious traditions of Tamil Nadu with its classical Tamil language, magnificent monuments, exquisite temples, art and sculpture and diversified traditions.

This is essentially a research department to disseminate knowledge about ancient cultural heritage of Tamil Nadu through a combination of fieldwork, analysis and publication.The Department has 8 Field Offices, 14 site museums, a library at Head Office, the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library and Research Centre at Anna Centenary Library 7th Floor,Kotturpuram,Chemical Laboratories at Chennai and Madurai, Printing section, besides the Institute of Epigraphy which operates from the Head Office.

S.No Name Designation From To
1

Padmabhushan

T.N. Ramachandran

 Special Officer 1961 1965
2 Dr. R. Nagasamy Special Officer(i/c)  Director 1966
26 / 12 / 1966		 25 / 12 / 1966
31 / 08 / 1988
3 Thiru. Natana. Kasinathan Director 01 / 09 / 1988 31 / 10 / 1998
4 Thiru. K. Damodharan Director 01 / 11 / 1998 31 / 01 / 2000
5 Thiru.  A. Abdhul Majid Director 01 / 02 / 2000 30 / 06 / 2001
6 Dr. R. Kannan, I.A.S. Commissioner 01 / 07 / 2001
20 / 07 / 2003		 17 / 10 / 2002
14 / 09 / 2003
7 Thiru. K. Ashokvardhan Shetty, I.A.S. Commissioner 18 / 10 / 2002 20 / 07 / 2003
8 Dr. Seetharam Gurumoorthy, I.A.S. Special Commissioner
PrincipalCommissioner
Additional Chief Secretary to Government		 14 / 09 / 2003
14 / 08 / 2006
25 / 06 / 2008		 18 / 06 / 2004
24 / 06 / 2008
30 / 06 / 2008
9 Thiru. T.S. Sridhar, I.A.S. Special Commissioner 18 / 06 / 2004 14 / 08 / 2006
10 Dr. Shanthini Kapoor, I.A.S. Commissioner of Museums(Addl.Charge) 01 / 07 / 2008
17 / 11 / 2008		 08 / 07 / 2008
29 / 11 / 2008
11 Dr. K. Arulmozhi, I.A.S. Commissioner 09 / 07 / 2008 14 / 11 / 2008
12 Dr. T.S. Sridhar, I.A.S. Principal Secretary & Commissioner 30 / 11 / 2008 20 / 05 / 2011
13 Thiru. C.P. Singh, I.A.S., Principal Secretary & Commissioner 21 / 05 / 2011 31 / 05 / 2012
14 Dr. S. Vasanthi, M.A, M.Phil, P.hd. Commissioner (i/c) 01 / 06 / 2012 01 / 06 / 2014
15 Dr. D. Karthikeyan, I.A.S. Commissioner 02 / 06 / 2014 04 / 07 / 2016
16 Dr. D. Jagannathan, I.A.S Commissioner [F.A.C] 21 / 07 / 2016 05 / 04 / 2017
17 Thiru. Ashok Ranjan Mohanty, I.A.S. Commissioner 06 / 04 / 2017 30 / 04 / 2018
18 Dr. D. Jagannathan, I.A.S Commissioner [F.A.C] 14 / 07 / 2017 27 / 05 / 2018
19 Thiru. K. Nagarajan, I.A.S Commissioner 28 / 05 / 2018 31 / 07 / 2018
20 Dr. Pinky Jowel, I.A.S Commissioner [F.A.C] 01/ 08 / 2018 26 / 08 / 2018
21 Thiru. T. Udhayachandran, I.A.S Commissioner
Principal Secretary and Commissioner		 27/ 08 / 2018
01/ 01 / 2019

31 / 12 / 2018
07 / 05 / 2021
22 Dr. R. Sivanantham Commissioner [F.A.C] 04 / 06 / 2021 02 / 05 / 2023
23 Thiru. S.R. Gandhi, I.R.P.F.S., Director [F.A.C] 03 / 05 /2023 22 / 05 / 2023
24 Thiru. T. Udhayachandran, I.A.S Commissioner [F.A.C] 23 / 05 /2023