A courageous commander with the title Samara Paraśurāma (lit, "Battle-Rama wielding an ax"), he found time to pursue his literary interests as well and became a renowned writer in Kannada and Sanskrit.

He patronised the famous Kannada grammarians Gunavarma and Nagavarma I and the poet Ranna whose writing Parusharama Charite may have been a eulogy of his patron.

It states that Chavundaraya was the grandson of Govindamayya who is praised for his knowledge and Dharma and was the son of Mabalayya, a subordinate of King Marasimha II.

[7] During the last years of Rashtrakuta rule, the Gangas were also under constant threat of civil war and from invasions of the increasingly powerful Chola Dynasty.

[8] Chavundaraya suppressed a rebellion made by Panchaldeva Mahasamanta in 975 AD and slew Mudurachayya (who held the titles Chaladanka Ganga and Gangarabanta) in the battle of Bageyur.

The prose work, composed in lucid Kannada, was meant mainly for the common man and avoided any reference to complicated elements of Jain doctrines and philosophy.

With the serene expression on the face of the image, its curled hair with graceful locks, its proportional anatomy, the monolith size, and the combination of its artistry and craftsmanship have led it to be called the mightiest achievement in sculptural art in medieval Karnataka.