A high-intensity bomb was found planted between a cave-like structure between the Kasiviswanathanar temple and Sikander dargah at Tirupparankundram hill in Tamil Nadu, the police said on Friday.
Police personnel along with the bomb detection and disposal squad went to the hillock and defused the bomb, which was connected to a time device, on Thursday.
The police said the bomb was packed in a polythene bag and kept in a plastic bucket. The timer of the bomb, connected to 16 nine volt batteries, was set for 11 pm Thursday.
The seized material had been sent to Chennai for examination, the police said.
In May this year a low-intensity bomb rigged to a cycle exploded near an auditorium-cum-temple complex in the hill town, causing a security scare ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party's state-level conference.
In October last year, a pipe bomb was unearthed at a nearby village on the Jan Chetna Yatra route of BJP senior leader LK Advani.