Mamallapuram's hoary Chinese links set to give a fillip to

While expectation is in the air in view of the Indo-China meet near here next week, Mamallapuram's ties with the dragon land is ancient and it is set to give a historic fillip to the summit.

The mighty Pallavas, whose flourishing sea port was Mamallapuram for a long time, had a relationship with China and had even sent envoys there during their rule.

As preparations are on the upswing for the meet between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a peep into archeological evidences shows links had existed about 2000 years ago between Mamallapuram, the venue of the summit, and China.

"Celadon ware (pottery) of the first, second Century (Common Era, about 2000 years ago) recovered on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu gives us a clue to Chinese maritime activities," noted archealogist S Rajavelu told PTI.

Such finds and other archaeological evidences can be used to infer that regions, including coastal areas of present day Mamallapuram and Kancheepuram ...