When last December’s killer tsunamis receded, they unearthed several submerged sculptures in southeastern India which archaeologists say date to the 7th century – and could be linked to a mysterious underwater port city.

The sculptures and other structures were first spotted by fishermen in the temple town of Mahabalipuram, about 60 kilometers south of Madras, the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. According to one myth, Mahabalipuram (also called Mamallapuram) was so beautiful that it made even the gods jealous, and they unleashed a massive flood that swallowed the town in a single day. Ironically, remnants of the ancient city have been unearthed after the recent disaster: “After the tsunami, locals reported many small structures and idols buried deep in the sand. The fishermen immediately converted them into shrines and started praying there,” said Sudesh Kumar of the Archaeological Sruvey of India (ASI) office in Mahabalipuram.

“They saw the sculptures as some sign from God,” Kumar told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The stone sculptures were found about 30 meters from the famous Shore Temple, declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1984.

Mahabalipuram was an important port between the 5th and 8th centuries, when the rulers of the Pallava dynasty traded with modern-day Malaysia, Cambodia, Sumatra, and Java. The area is now world famous for its rock temples, built between 630-728 C.E.

Archaeologists said the ancient relics were “gifts” of the tsunamis. They include what appears to be walls of a temple, a water-storage structure, and sculptures of an elephant, a seated lion, a horse, and armed warriors. Also included was a remarkable sculpture of a lion leaping forward with outstretched paws and a wide-open mouth in an attack position.

“It is an incredible find because this is a part of Indian history that was thought to be lost forever,” said T. Sathya Murthy, ASI’s superintending archaeologist. “When the sea water receded after the tsunami, these structures emerged through a process of de-silting and erosion. We believe extensive structures are still buried.”

These findings are congruent with the results of ASI’s offshore exploration in 2004 which revealed a temple-like structure and some oblique structures on the sea bed. In mid-March, a team of ASI’s marine archaeologists will dive deep to discover what other secrets are hidden in the sea. Murthy said that only further investigations will reveal a possible link between these sculptures and the submerged port or temple.