Chandravalli

Chandravalli is an archaeological site in a valley enclosed by the Chitradurga, Kirabanakallu and Jolagudda hills, about three km from Chitradurga, with a stream running through its scrubland. It was dug by R. Narasimhachar and others from 1909, by M. H. Krishna in 1928–30 and by Mortimer Wheeler in 1947. Settlement began in the Iron Age, and the work revealed megalithic and Satavahana phases, brick houses with stone-covered drains, burials and painted pottery.

Coins found here range from Satavahana, Hoysala and Vijayanagara issues to Roman denarii of Augustus and a coin of the Han emperor Wu Ti, evidence of trade with Rome. A rock inscription of Mayurasharma, founder of the Kadamba dynasty, is in the Bhairaweshwara temple, and the place is said to have been the first Kadamba capital. The semicircular Chandravalli cave temple, or Ankali Mutt, sits between two huge boulders beside a lake whose surrounding woods are good for birdwatching.