India, March 9 -- The heavy monsoon rains on the Malabar coast are legendary. But what the rain-washed earth of a little village on the banks of the River Periyar near Kochi in Kerala revealed every year seemed to be the stuff of legend itself. Village kids collected brightly coloured beads, bits of clay pots, and strange-looking coins that came up in the town of Pattanam, close to Kodungallur, every rainy season. In 2004, archaeologists made the connection between these finds in this ancient town 30 kms north of Kochi in Ernakulam district, and the possibility of unearthing something quite spectacular - a lost city called Muziris!

Muziris: A centre of ancient global trade

The bustling seaport of Muziris (sometimes known as Muchiri or V...