While ancient cities dominate headlines, modern submersions like Curdi and Goa offer stark lessons. Submerged in 1986 by the Salaulim Dam, this village reemerges annually, revealing a 10th-century Mahadev Temple and terracotta drainage systems. Geological surveys predict its burial by silt by 2045, yet former residents still perform rituals on exposed foundations—a poignant dance between memory and loss.

Climate change amplifies these narratives. Poompuhar’s shoreline retreated 2.8 meters annually between 500 BCE and 1000 CE due to sea-level rise, while Dwarka sank 1.5 meters from tectonic shifts. Today, 22 offshore drilling projects near Dwarka and fishing trawlers damaging 15% of Mahabalipuram’s ruins highlight modern threats.

Archaeologists combat these challenges with innovation. Sub-bottom profiling at Dwarka mapped cultural layers 10 meters deep, while 3D stratigraphic models at Mahabalipuram differentiated Pallava and Chola structures. The ASI’s 2025–2030 Submerged Heritage Initiative aims to document 250 sites using autonomous drones and machine learning.

These efforts are urgent. Curdi’s vanishing artefacts and Dwarka’s monsoon-reburied ruins remind us that submerged sites are climatic time capsules. As the Matsya Purana’s descriptions of Dwarka match sonar maps with 80% accuracy, blending ancient texts and technology becomes key to preservation.

India’s drowned cities teach resilience: civilisations, like tides, ebb and flow. Yet their stones, resurfacing briefly, urge us to listen—not just to the past, but to the rising seas rewriting our future.