The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team which conducted the excavation believe that brick temple could be the oldest of its kind to be discovered in Tamil Nadu.

[1][2] The temple was discovered by a team of archaeologists from the ASI based on clues found in a rock inscription left exposed by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

[3] S. Rajavelu, epigraphist with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), identified a nearby mound as the site of the temple.

[3] G. Thirumoorthy, ASI Assistant Archaeologist, believed that the shrine could be the oldest Murugan temple to be excavated in Tamil Nadu.

[4] Archaeologists believe that the brick shrine was destroyed either by a cyclone or a tsunami which took place 2,200 years ago.

[4] The Pallavas built a granite temple on the brick foundation in the 8th century CE, which also was likely to have been destroyed by a tsunami.

[4] Archaeologists believe that the second tsunami must have occurred in the 13th century CE as the latest inscriptions which speak of the shrine have been dated to 1215.

[2] Although the city of Mahabalipuram was constructed by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I in the 7th century CE, there is evidence that a small port might have functioned at the site even earlier.

[9][10] The Sangam age poem Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai describes a port called Nirppeyyaru which some scholars identify with the present-day Mahabalipuram.

[7] During the excavations, a terracotta plaque depicting a Kuravai Koothu, a dance which is mentioned in the 1st century CE Tamil epic Silappadhikaram, was discovered.