More news from Mahabalipuram. As per mythology there were seven temples in that area out of which only one is visible now. But the naval diving team helping the Archaeological Society of India has made some more discoveries related to that.
As the killer tsunami waves receded, it also gulped the sand deposits only to unveil a line of rocks 500 metres from the Shore temple. The neat arrangement of rocks with man-made features could turn out to be another cave temple of the Pallava era (8th century). The naval diving team, assisting the Archaeological Society of India, also discovered another structure $(Ope(Brhaps a temple 100 metres north-east.
Commander A K Sharma of Indian Naval Command Diving team claims that the structures have striking resemblance with the legendary painting of the seven pagodas (or seven temples). “We know for sure that a temple is going to emerge from the excavation site. We have found another temple close to the shore and also located a slab believed to be the pedestal on which the deity was placed,” he said.
Says commanding officer of INS Ghorpad, Lt Commander Satyendra Vaidya: “We have recovered prominent objects of archaeological importance. A temple-shaped structure has been discovered during one of the dives. Then came a square structure resembling a sanctum sanctorum. It is covered with marine growth and the centre is buried under silt.”
The INS Ghorpad team also found some artifacts belonging to the temple site. Carved relics depicting lions and elephant were exposed by the tsunami further down south of the excavation site. These rocks were visible earlier too, but not as clearly as now, showing sharp carvings. [Tsunami unveils ‘seven pagodas’ via IndiaArchaeology]
