“An attempt has been made by me in recent years to get an archaeological for this literary picture of Kanchipuram. Earlier the Archaeological Survey of India, Southern Circle, Madras, had excavated a mound in the immediate vicinity of Kanchipuram; But they have not yielded any data which could help in reconstructing the history of the place.

At the instance of His Holiness Jagatguru Sri Sankaracharya of Kamakoti Peeta, a trial trench was sunk by me in the premises of Matha. The dig has been restricted to a single trench measuring 20′ x 20′ with the main object being to get a good vertical sequence of the occupation of the site from prehistoric period to the present day. Fortunately it has supplied us a good sequence which can be chronologically arranged as follows:-

Period I Megalithic (300 B.C.-200 A.D.)

Period II Early Historic Satavahana Early Pallava 200 A.D.- 400 A.D.

Period III Post-Pallava C. 400-1000 A.D. …

The complete plan of structure which appears to be a temple built of brick-laid in lime, and lined cut stone slabs, could not be completely exposed, due to the superimposed modern building.”