GURUVAYUR: A team from the Archaeological Department, Thrissur, led by documentation officer Balamohanan and curator Sona arrived at the Perumthatta Siva temple here on Thursday for examining the cannons which were found during digging on the premises of the temple. The centuries-old cannons were unearthed by the Perumthatta Devaswom workers on Wednesday.
District Collector V K Baby and the Archaeological Department officials were immediately informed of the 'discovery' and work was stalled immediately.
Later, the two cannons were taken out in the presence of Deputy Collector B Parvathikutty, Chavakkad Tahasildar K K Thilakam, Devaswom authorities and the Guruvayur police.
According to Balamohanan, the two cast iron cannons belonged to the 18th century and were the biggest ever excavated from Thrissur district.
The cannons are over 2 m- long and has a circumference of 56 cm and a firing range of 1.5 km, Balamohanan said.
The cannons will be examined by Archaeology Department Director K K Mohan Pillai next week and will be shifted to the Regional Conservative Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram.
Temple president Keezheyidom Raman Namboodiri said that the Perumthatta Siva temple was owned by Kozhikode Zamorin. It was one among the 108 Siva temples in the state. It is said that, Tipu Sulthan, during his invasion of Malabar in 1787, had arrived at the Perumthatta Siva temple and took possession of the temple. But owing to illness, he had to stop the war and had to leave for Karnataka.
Raman Namboodiri added that during a devaprasnam a decade ago, the astrologers had mentioned about the presence of armoury on the temple premises, following which the Devaswom tried to excavate it.
Guruvayur MLA K V Abdul Khader who visited the site said the cannons would be preserved by the Archaeological Department.
He said that Cultural Affairs Minister M A Baby had promised all help to install the cannons at the Archaeological Museum at Thrissur.