Ramachandran Nagaswamy (10 August 1930 – 23 January 2022) was an Indian historian, archaeologist and epigraphist who was known for his work on temple inscriptions and art history of Tamil Nadu.

Nagaswamy became the inaugural director of the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department in 1966, serving in that capacity till 1988.

[5] Nagaswamy made archaeology a popular subject in Tamil Nadu, especially among children through publication of pocket book guides.

He was responsible for involving several thousand school and college students in cleaning and preserving nearby historical places and monuments.

[6] He was responsible for protecting several historic monuments like the first-century Chera inscriptions at Pugalur, the palace site of the Imperial Cholas at Gangaikonda Cholapuram, the famous 17th-century Thirumalai Nayak palace at Madurai, the 17th-century Danish Fort at Tranquebar, and the birthplace of poet Subramania Bharati at Ettayapuram besides excavating the palace site of Virapandya Kattabomman at Panchalankurichi.