Chandravalli

Chandravalli is an

Augustus Caesar and a coin of the Chinese Han dynasty Emperor Wu Ti belonging to 2nd Century BC.^[2]^[4]

Mythology

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)^[5] 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.^[6]

Chandravalli was first excavated by R. Narasimhachar who was the Director of Department of Archaeology and Museums of the

Mysore state.^[2]^[7] 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;

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.

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:

Augustus Caesar and a coin of the Chinese Han dynasty Emperor Wu Ti.^[2]

Trade ties with ancient Rome

Assessment of historic settlement has led to an interesting finding on the existence of commercial contacts with ancient Roman world.[8]

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.^[2]

Notes

^ "In and Around Chitradurga". Webpage of the Chitradurga district. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Amalananda Ghosh (1990), p97
^ ^a ^b Peter N. Peregrine, Melvin Ember, Human Relations Area Files Inc. (2001), p367
^ S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar (1995), p343
^ Datta, Sravasti (7 March 2013). "Bastion on the hill". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
^ "This cave holds many secrets". Retrieved 7 May 2013.
^ "introduction". Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Karnataka. Retrieved 11 March 2008.
^ "Chandravalli inhabitants had trade ties with ancient Rome - Bangalore Mirror". bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 20 December 2020.