Poompuhar Underwater Finds: Torpedo Jar and Seabed Ring Wells Add West Asian Link to the Drowned Chola Port

An 18-day underwater exploration off Poompuhar (ancient Kaveripoompattinam), the early Chola port at the mouth of the Kaveri in Mayiladuthurai district, Tamil Nadu, concluded on 22 September 2026. Conducted by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) with the Indian Maritime University (IMU) as the third phase of the State's offshore programme, it recovered a fragment of a West Asian 'torpedo jar', terracotta ring wells on the seabed and a large haul of pottery. The Indian Express (28 September 2026) examined what the finds reveal about Tamil links with West Asia.