Author: Soutik Biswas
Publication: BBC News
Date: February 11, 2005
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4257181.stm
The deadly tsunami could have uncovered
the remains of an ancient port city off the coast in southern India.
Archaeologists say they have discovered
some stone remains from the coast close to India's famous beachfront Mahabalipuram
temple in Tamil Nadu state following the 26 December tsunami.
They believe that the "structures"
could be the remains of an ancient and once-flourishing port city in the
area housing the famous 1200-year-old rock-hewn temple.
Three pieces of remains, which include
a granite lion, were found buried in the sand after the coastline receded
in the area after the tsunami struck.
Undersea remains
"They could be part of the small
seaport city which existed here before water engulfed them. They could
be part of a temple or a building. We are investigating," says T Sathiamoorthy
of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Archaeologists say that the stone
remains date back to 7th Century AD and are nearly 6ft tall.
They have elaborate engravings of
the kind that are found in the Mahabalipuram temple.
The temple, which is a World Heritage
site, represents some of the earliest-known examples of Dravidian architecture
dating back to 7th Century AD.
The monument also has gigantic open
air reliefs hewn out from granite.
The tsunami waves have also helped
the archaeologists in desilting one such relief which had been covered
with sand for ages.
A half-completed rock relief of
an elephant got "naturally desilted" by the ferocious waves and is now
drawing large crowds at this popular tourist destination.
For the past three years, archaeologists
working with divers from India and England have found the remnants of the
ancient port.
Archaeologists say they had done
underwater surveys 1 km into the sea from the temple and found some undersea
remains.
Legend
The myths of Mahabalipuram were
first set down in writing by British traveller J Goldingham, who visited
the South Indian coastal town in 1798, at which time it was known to sailors
as the Seven Pagodas.
The myths speak of six temples submerged
beneath the waves with the seventh temple still standing on the seashore.
The myths also state that a large
city which once stood on the site was so beautiful the gods became jealous
and sent a flood that swallowed it up entirely in a single day.
The tsunami has also washed up a
9 inch-tall bronze Buddha on the coast off Kalapakkam in the state.
"It was lying with some other objects.
It must have been carried out to the sea from Burma or Thailand," says
T Sathiamoorthy.
The Buddha has been handed over
to the local authorities, and may soon find a place in an Indian museum.
"We will protect it if nobody claims
it," says Mr Sathiamoorthy.
