‘Finding fossils in Tamil Nadu was a special experience’

The landlocked districts of Ariyalur and Perambalur, located about 250 kms away from Chennai were under the sea about 65 to 146 million years ago. To this day, the districts are treasure chest of marine fossils. More than 5000 species of animals that lived in the past can be found here – in people’s backyards. Yet, there is not much awareness about the same. Two amateur palaeontologists Nirmal Rajah and Anurag Amin, based out of Dubai decided to take a walk around the area and teach the children in the neighbourhood all about the fossils there. This entire journey is documented in the film, Unearthing the Treasures of Ariyalur.

“I’ve been interested in dinosaurs since I was a child, but I started taking it seriously only when I joined college to study Zoology. I studied evolutionary biology and there learnt about fossils and what they can tell us about the past. I started reading about fossil sites in India and learnt about Ariyalur. I visited Ariyalur for the first time in 2008 and several other times after that. I realised that Ariyalur is very different when I found a fossil (A belemnite, a squid like animal that went extinct 65 million years ago) within five minutes into the field. It was quite tough to walk into certain fossil sites in Ariyalur without stepping over hundreds of fossils!” says Nirmal. 

The rock formations (rock layers) in Ariyalur were deposited in various time periods under various conditions. “For example some areas are fluvial (formed by rivers) where bones of dinosaurs, eggs, nests, bones of extinct reptiles can be found. Other areas were under sea, so fossils of marine invertebrates can also be found. In addition, bones of Titanosaurs a sauropod dinosaur (long necked herbivores) and its nest with eggs have been found. Eggs and nest of Carnosaurs, Troodon, a dog sized dinosaur remains were also found and are still being found. Other than animals, plant fossils can also been found in Ariyalur,” adds Anurag. 

Nirmal says that shooting the documentary has been a great experience. “I loved shooting for the documentary. Vaishnavi our director is one of the very few people who can multi-task - shoot a documentary and at the same time appreciate what lay before her. Apart from shooting we also had several lengthy discussions about the fossils, the geological time, evolution of life and much more. The whole experience was enriching,” he shares. 

He adds, “The kids, you will see in the documentary were just marvellous. I never expected that a school would cancel the scheduled exam just to accommodate our sessions and the shoot. I was stunned to see the enthusiasm of these children. They asked a lot of questions and some questions were the toughest I’ve ever faced. We must sow the seeds of curiosity in their minds. We don’t have museums like American Museum of Natural History here, but talks and documentaries will definitely make kids curious.” 

Finding fossils is a very special experience for both Nirmal and Anurag. “Whenever you break open a rock and find a fossil embedded within, you will be the first human in the world to touch it and see it after 6,50,00,000 years. Everyone should at least once in their life should experience this wonderful moment,” they say.