The Pandavakkuzhi, an ancient burial chamber that dates back to the Stone Age, was discovered in several places in Tamil Nadu and the hilly regions of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom.
They are also known in the names "Pandukkuzhi" or "Panchapandavar Padukai". In Devikulam, Idukki district, these structures are known as "Panchapandavar Madangal).
The most common type of pandukuzhi is a structure in which three stone slabs are erected linear and covered with another slab. Some other structures are made of four slabs with a slab with a hole placed atop. A stone slab is also laid in the bottom. Most of these structures are 10 feet in length and five feet in width.
Small burial urns containing bones and weapons were found by historians who excavated the ground beneath the pandavakkuzhis.
The archeology wing of the erstwhile Kochi kingdom, during an excavation at Cheramanparambu in 1946, had discovered clay utensils, copper and iron tools and pieces of plates. The Cheramanparambu is near the Thiruvanchikkulam temple at Kodungallur.
An excavation at the same site during 1969-70 yielded remnants of walls made of white rocks. Hundreds of tiny earthen lamps and copper coins of the dynasties of Rajaraja Cholan and Rajendra Cholan were also discovered.
