"Archeological studies by the Government of India confirm that the Portuguese built the church on the ruins of a Hindu temple. They have recovered an inscription of Rajendra Chola, the Imperial Chola who was devoted to the Vedic religion. A 1967 report of the Archaeological Survey of India on the recovery of the eleventh-century inscription of Rajendra Chola from San Thome Church in Madras states that the inscription mentions the Chola king as favored by Lakshmi, 'who grants him victory and prosperity'."