On the first day of the excavation at the famous Kandaswamy temple on Rajiv Gandhi Salai (formerly known as Old Mamallapuram Road) in Thiruporur, on Tuesday, a team of archaeologists led by senior archaeological officer (A.O.) of the State archaeology department found only a dozen puja objects in the granite room on the temple premises.
The excavation will continue on Wednesday.
The archaeologists, led by K. Saraswathi, A.O. (Kancheepuram), unearthed puja objects made of brass and iron. Temple authorities found a small room on the northeastern end of the temple on December 2, when the workmen undertook cleaning operations on the premises as part of renovation of the Pallava-era temple.
The room is around 12 feet long and six feet tall.
At present, the archaeologists, along with temple authorities, have dug up to a depth of 10 feet but were unable to find any archaeologically-significant objects.
The excavation is being done after a request from the commissioner of the Hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR&CE) department, which maintains the temple, to trace the history of the small room.
Subsequently, a team of archaeologists from the department were asked to inspect the site by S. Vasanthi, commissioner in-charge, State archaeology department.
The Pallava-era temple is maintained by the HR&CE department. The need for tracing the origin of the room was felt, temple officials said, after rumours spread among residents and devotees that the room might have been the entry or exit for an underground pathway for the then Pallava and subsequent Vijayanagara rulers.
