Chandravalli

Chandravalli (moon shaped) was known as Chandanavati, name attributed to the king as this place was once ruled by Chandrahasa (king of Kuntala). ==Chandravalli cave temple==

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. ==History==

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. Prehistoric period 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. Excavation history 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. ;Other objects Other objects found included neoliths, a cist with a skeleton in it, pots containing bones and teeth of animals and a Roman bulla. One of the cists also appeared to contain the legs of a sarcophagus. ==Notes==