Chandravalli

Chandravalli is an archaeological site located in the Chitradurga district of the state of Karnataka, India. The region is a valley formed by three hills, Chitradurga, Kirabanakallu and Jolagudda. It is a semi-arid region with scrub vegetation with a stream running through it. Excavations at Chandravalli have revealed earthen pots, painted bowls and coins of Indian dynasties like Vijayanagar, Satavahana and Hoysalas as well as denarii of Roman emperor Augustus Caesar and a coin of the Chinese Han dynasty Emperor Wu Ti belonging to 2nd Century BC. Chandravalli (moon shaped) was known as Chandanavati, name attributed to the king as this place was once ruled by Chandrahasa (king of Kuntala). The Chandravalli cave temple (also known as the Ankali Mutt - Saints from Ankalagi (Belgaum) came here for meditation) is semilunar in shape located between two giant monolithic rocks, a pre-historic site is about three km from Chitradurga. There is a lake which is adds the importance to cave temple. The forest around the lake is a good place for bird watching. At Chandravalli there is a rock inscription of the first Kannada dynasty Kadambas founder Mayurasharma (345 CE) found in the Bhairaweshwara temple. Chandravalli is the first capital city of Kadamba dynasty. Chandravalli is pre-historic archaeological site, historians found painted pottery and coins from the pre-historic and Shatavahana period and found that the human habitation existed during the Iron Age. In 1909 B L Rice, R Narasimhachar and R Shamashastry carried out the excavation work at Chandravalli. During 1929-30 M H Krishna did the significant contribution. Chandravalli was first excavated by R. Narasimhachar who was the Director of Department of Archaeology and Museums of the Mysore state. Further excavations were carried out by H. M. Krishna in 1928-29 and finally by Mortimer Wheeler under the guidance of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1947. Findings Two distinct periods; megalithic and Satavahana were noticed during the excavations.