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Chandravalli A tour of Chitradurga will take you to the scenic valley of Chandravalli located to the north west of Chitradurga.

Chandravalli is an ancient archeological site and coins, inscriptions, ruins, stone images belonging to the Hoisala-Kadamb and Sathavahana period have been discovered at Huligondi, Basavanagondi, Baralagondi and other locations of Chandravalli. A rock inscription seen near Bhairaweshvara temple here links Chandravalli to the reign of Kadamba Mayura Verma.

About Chandravalli Chandravalli is an archaeological site, located along the north-easterly axis of Chitradurga hill, about 2 km from the main city. Antiques like coins, inscriptions, ruins and stone images belonging to the Hoisala-Kadamb and Sathavahana period have been excavated at Huligondi, Basavanagudi, Baralagondi and other areas of Chandravalli. Tourists here can also find a rock inscription near the Bhairaveshwara temple, which suggests that Chandravalli was once ruled by Mayuravarma of Kadamba dynasty.

Chandravalli is another attraction in Chitradurga. 2 kms away from the town, this pre-historic site, which is semilunar in shape is located between 3 hills, Chitradurga, Cholagudda and Kirubanakallu. Excavations here have shown that this place was inhabited since Iron age. Surrounded by hills with a lake in the middle, makes it a beautiful location.

Chandravalli Lake

Nearby are the Chandravalli Caves, also called Ankali Math. These were once inhabited by the Saints of Ankali Math from Belgaum. These are underground caves where one gets around 80 feet down from ground level. Better to reach out to this place with a guide as you can easily get lost inside the caves, which has a different exit route. Completely dark at any time of the day, one has to carry a

source of light like torch/candle while exploring the place.

One of the entrances in Chandravalli Caves

Caves though dark have outlets for ventilation and comprises of anything a math could have like a place of worship with Shiva linga, visitor room, rooms for Sadhus, carvings in the wall to keep belongings, carvings and paintings on the walls(with natural colours made of herbs). This is a must visit place if you are in Chitradurga. We spent some 3 hours exploring the place. More places to visit in Chitradurga in next post.

Chandravalli
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Chandravalli Location

Coordinates Period Country Region Area

14.209N 76.386ECoordinates: 14.209N 76.386E Satavahana India Karnataka 0.5 km2 (0.19 sq mi)

Chandravalli is an archaeological site located in the Chitradurga district of the state of Karnataka, India.[1] The region is a valley formed by three hills, Chitradurga, Kirabanakallu and Cholagudda.[2] It is a semi-arid region with scrub vegetation with a stream running through it.[3] 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 B.C.[2][4]

Excavation history
Chandravalli was first excavated by R. Narasimhachar who was the Director of Department of Archaeology and Museums of the Mysore state.[2][5] 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.[2]

Findings
Two distinct periods; megalithic and Satavahana were noticed during the excavations. It was found that Chandravalli was inhabited from Iron Age onwards. The inscriptions found in the nearby hillocks belonged to the Chalukya and Hoysala period, with one belonging to the king Mayurasharma, the founder of the Kadamba dynasty.[2]

General layout
The total measurement of the site excavated was 730 m 730 m, and the general layout of the site contained a housing complex with walls of bricks, covered stone drains, red-gravel rammed floors and fireplaces made of bricks.[2] It was also a mortuary site.[3]

Earthen ware
The earthen ware found included megalithic pottery, painted vessels coated by a russet coloured wash (Russet-coated painted ware), red and black coloured ware as well as rouletted ware.[2] The paintings on these wares were linear and geometric and consisted of criss-cross, dotted lines, hatched triangles and other patterns. The shapes of these wares were vessels with funnel-shaped lid, carinated bowls, three-legged vessels and other forms.[2]

Coins
Coins of the following Indian kings were found: Krishnaraja Wodeyar III of Mysore, Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar, various Satavahana kings and Viraraya of Hoysala kingdom. Among the foreign coins found were denarii of Augustus Caesar and a coin of the Chinese Han dynasty Emperor Wu Ti.[2]

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