Book Release: Cave Pearls of Meghalaya, Volume 1

The Book Cave Pearls of Meghalaya, Volume 1, Pala Range and Kopili Valley is now available - at least for British and Irish cavers, who can get it via Fraser or the GSG or via [email protected]

Cavers on the Continent will have to wait for another two weeks - the books are still on a ship bound for Hamburg.

Short description:

It is an A4 sized hardback of 265 pages in full colour and covers the exploration of caves in the Pala Range and Kopili Valley. There are chapters on Meghalaya, on the 2010, 2011 and 2012 expeditions in that area, and also on the geology, subterranean ecology, spiders and bats. The second half of the book is devoted to cave descriptions each with survey and photographs plus a list of minor caves and other sites of speleological interest. An unexpected (to me) bonus is hidden inside the back cover - a CD with surveys of the six longest systems, a satellite view of the area with cave surveys superimposed, and an article describing the identification of two new species of bat.

You can buy one for £26 in Edinburgh - or. if you live further afield cost is £32.30 to include postage and packing within the UK. We will be using 'caver mail' as much as possible to reduce postal costs and keep cash back to fund the printing costs, and help towards production of volume two. Volume One is well worth the price and buyers are encouraged to contribute more as Gift Aid to help fund the next volume.

Elephanta Caves

Elephanta Caves, situated on the Elephanta Island is home to 1,200 year old rock cut temple of Lord Shiva. Ancient carvings and sculptures adorn the temple. The speciality of the temple is that it was built out of a single rock with space for columns and shrines. There are over 10 caves here but it's the main cave that has the privilege of being the most preserved.

This section of the cave is replete with gigantic structures that tell stories of Lord Shiva from the puranas.An astonishing fact is that even though the site was used for target practice in the 17th century by the Portuguese, the caves retained their charm and still attract loads of visitors everyday. The Elephanta Caves are now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Natural cave unearthed

The forest officials have recently unearthed a natural cave inisde the thick forest, in Kodagu district.

The cave is situated near Anderson stream inside thick forest at Vatekoli, which is 15 kms from Virajpet- Makutta road. The cave is 60 metre long and two metres in height. According to forest department officials, they have heard the sound of water inside the cave. “If there is water inside the cave, then it would be giving shelter to water creatures like fish, crab and so on. Realising the decrease in oxygen inside the cave, the officials did not make an attempt to move further inside the cave.”

The bats will welcome anyone who enters the cave. Normally, snakes live in and around those areas where bats live, say officials. Kodagu Circle Chief Conservator of Forest Deekshith said that the cave must have been formed by the flow of water through limestone and similar rocks. Water seeps into the pores and cracks of rocks and soil and bubbles beneath the earth above. Such caves are called as Solution caves.

The soil in the cave is a mixture of white and grey colour and is soft. The roof of the cave is strong. “We could not see the cave fully. The cave will provide an opportunity for the geologists to make a study. I will inform the State government on the discovery of a cave. If the government sends an expert, we will get more details on the cave,” said an official. It is said that the forest guards had discovered it a year ago. However, they had not informed it to the higher authorities. After taking charge, Deekshith visited the spot. In fact, he has marked the route to the cave through GPS.

Source: Deccan Herald

Boy rescued from Karbi Anglong cave

The crime branch of city police, with the help of Morigaon police, rescued Mrinmoy Kakati (19), a student of a city-based private college on Tuesday night from Karbi Anglong, who was missing since the morning of April 18.

The police also arrested three persons involved in the kidnapping. The arrested were later identified as Moti Deuri, Romen Konwar and Jiten Inghi.

On April 20, Mrinomoy's family registered a kidnapping case at the Odalbakra police outpost here after the boy did not return home. Though initially the boy was suspected of running away from house, the family later confirmed that he had been abducted and they had received a ransom call from the abductors.

The kidnappers demanded Rs 50 lakh as ransom money, which the family refused to give. Mrinomoy's father, S R Kakoti, is an employee of the Rural Electrification Programme scheme.

A source spotted Mrinomoy in Jorabat and informed the police.

"Our sources said that the boy was taken towards Nellie in Morigaon district and our search team rescued him from a cave in hills located in the bordering areas of Morigaon and Karbi Anglong districts," said additional SP (crime) A Sinha.

Mrinomoy was kept in a cave in the hills of Marlak area under Baithalangshu PS in Karbi Anglong, some 25 km from Nellie.

Mining threatens ancient cave site in Kashmir

Two ancient caves in central Kashmir’s Badgam district Thursday became the focus of a group of migrant Kashmiri Pandits seeking preservation of ancient, heritage sites in the Kashmir Valley.

The caves, known as “Abinavagupta caves”, are located 40 km from here and are sacred to local Kashmiri Pandits. They are also archaeologically important as ancient sites in the valley.

“These caves are known as Abinavagupta caves after the 11th century Kashmiri philosopher, mystic and aesthetician who would retire to these caves for meditation. Legend has it that Abinavagupta meditated inside these caves along with 1,200 of his disciples when he was about to leave this world in 1020 AD,” said Vir Saraf of NGO Searching for Roots in Kashmir.

Saraf, who visited the caves Thursday along with some locals, said stone mining has been going on around the caves, which is threatening the heritage.

“These caves are not only sacred to Kashmir Pandits, but are essentially of great historical and heritage value for everybody. If properly exploited, the cave site would become a major heritage tourism destination,” Saraf said.

The officials of the local geology and mining department said mining of stones has been allowed in the area some 150 feet away from the cave site, but Saraf who visited the place Thursday said, “I have seen trucks removing stones from near the cave site and this is definitely a great threat to the ancient caves.”

Abinavagupta is regarded as the greatest teacher of Kashmir Shaivism, an ancient Hindu school of thought for which Kashmir is famous the world over.

Source: Hillpost

Three palaeolithic era caves, tools discovered

Students of the Department of History, Manipur University
at the Khommunnom rock shelter

Three new caves belonging to the Old Stone Age have been discovered near Sajik Tampak in Chandel district of Manipur by a joint expert team of Archaelogical Survey of India, Manipur University and DM College of Science.

During the excavation carried out in March, the expert team also found many tools used during the Old Stone Age (Palaeolithic Age). Things such as charcoal and a number of small fragmented pots were also found, apart from various kinds of bones and sea snails, stated a press statement of the director, excavation Khomunnom.

Phuikon Ningthou Cave is located about 11 km from Sajik Tampak and that there are another three caves—Phuikon Haosapu Cave, Phuikon Haosabee Cave and Haosabee Daughter’s Cave- in the vicinity of the Phuikon Ningthou Cave. Haoshabi Daughter’s Cave is the most beautiful cave among them and considered as the house of daughters, the statement added.

During the expedition, as many as 27 stone tools were found. However, only carbon-dating will be able to determine the age they were used. But, experts say there is no doubt that the tools belong to Paleolithic Era, the release added.

Khomunnom Cave is located behind the Khomunnom village under a water fall and it is 100 ft in length, 21 ft in breadth and 7 ft in height and at the edge the area of the cave covers four ft. The lateral meaning of the word ‘Khomnnom’ is old village.

Kanheri Caves study digs out new information

The Vihara in the cave

A new study on Kanheri Caves has revealed hitherto unknown information on the Buddhist monument located in Mumbai.

The study by archaeologist and Rabindranath Tagore National Fellow Dr MK Dhavalikar has suggested that followers of three different Buddhist sects lived and prayed at the complex between 2nd and 12th century AD.

Dhavalikar, who revealed preliminary findings from the study on Friday during a lecture at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, said the cave monument which was inhabited for nearly a millennium, with only a century-long break in between, witnessed the transition from Hinayan to Mahayan, and from Mahayan to Vajrayan Buddhism.“Hinayana and Mahayana Bhikshus (monks) stayed there together despite theological differences,” said Dhavalikar.

Work came to a halt around 350 AD and according to Dhavalikar, this cessation of building and cultural activity coincided with a general decline in the quality of lives across India. “Nearly 50% of inhabited sites in India were abandoned,” said Dhavalikar.

Digging activity at Kanheri, now located inside the Borivli National Park, was revived in the 5th century and continued till the 12th when the caves were abandoned as Buddhism faded away from the peninsula. The long period over which the complex was created means that various styles of cave architecture are displayed at the site: while some of the earlier Chaityas or prayer halls have a vaulted roof, later caves have flat roofs.

Dhavalikar said the images of Tara, Avalokiteshwara and Bhrukuti were probably added later to the cave walls. “Initially, there were no gods in Buddhism,” he said.

Kanheri is a complex of around 100 Chaityas, living quarters and memorials carved into a rock cliff. It is the largest Buddhist worship site in Western India and though many of the caves are in good condition, some have either collapsed or have corroded. The existence of the caves was first reported to the modern world by a Portuguese explorer Joao de Castro in 1539 AD.

Dhavalikar’s research forms part of a study about Mumbai’s history before the 16th century.

Source: DNA India

Jumbo rescued from crevice

A female elephant fell into a pit at Chinna Thadagam
in Coimbatore and was rescued by forest department staff.

The forest officials rescued a 15-year-old female elephant, which fell into a crevice in the reserve forest area of Periyanayakanpalayam forest range in Nanjundapuram village near Thadagam on Thursday.

Anti-poaching watchers heard an elephant’s trumpet in the reserve forest on Wednesday. Later in the evening, they found an elephant trapped between two rocks near Manpari area.

According to forest ranger M. Nazeer, the female elephant must have entered the cave to drink water. She got trapped in the gap, as it was slippery and deep. We performed the rescue operation on Thursday, Mr Nazeer said.

The forest team said they first fed banana, sugarcane to give energy to the jumbo for the climb. “Then we filled stones, sand and other stuffed rocky materials inside the gap and formed a platform for the elephant to step on and come outside the rock. The rescue operation lasted more than four hours,” the forest team said.

Source: Deccan Chronicle

Two New Caves With Rock Art Discovered In India

Maraiyur, located near Udumalaipettai, houses many Neolithic
and megalithic structures made of stone and granite.

In an exciting find, a young archaeologist has found two caves with stunning rock art belonging to the prehistoric and early historic era. The caves, ‘Vanapechialai’ and the ‘Vanaraparai’ abound with red and white ochre paintings and are located in the Udumalaipettai forest range in Tirupur district.

Sharing his discovery with Express, C Vijayakumar says Vanapechialai has a large number of faded red-ochre paintings. “There are six red hand marks and certain unidentifiable images. However, there are six bright parallel lines in a zig zag fashion in red ochre resembling flickering of flames.” In the same cave, there is also a white-ochre painting, which portrays a man seated on an elephant (22 cm long, 18 cm wide). Vijayakumar says the white-ochre drawing has been done over red-ochre.

The Vanaraparai cave has the famed ‘hand’ mark, which is early man’s first effort in documenting his identity. “It is imprinted twice in pure red-ochre. In the right hand, the ring finger is missing, suggesting that the imprint is that of the village chieftain or Moopan. In primitive societies during pre-historic period, the Moopan’s ring finger was always cut.”

The cave - big enough to house 150 cows - has paintings ranging between 5 cm and 32 cm. There are altogether 28 sketches of early man, besides images of animals, which include a couple of elephants, men on deer with a primitive hunting weapon, monkeys, the sun and a faded moon.

Thadou Students' Association (TSA) objects to cave exploration team

Thadou Students' Association (TSA), Chandel district has expressed objection to the entry of a joint team from Department of History, Manipur University and Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati Circle, who could not even spell the names of local villages and the caves correctly for exploration of some caves in Chandel district.

In a statement, General Secretary of TSA, Chandel district James Haokip pointed out that local people entrust such matters to Kuki Research Forum and appealed to all the outsiders not to interfere in the matters/affairs related to the district.

TSA has also appealed to all concerned for prior consultation if they wish to visit any historical places in Chandel district to avoid any untoward incidents in future.

Source: Hueiyen News Service

14-member exploration team leaves for Khomunnom cave

A 14-member team which is on a mission to explore Khomunnom cave in Shajik Tampak in Chandel district was flagged off from the DM College of Science campus by E Binoy, ex-Chief Engineer of PWD, today at around 10:30 am.

The flagging off ceremony of the exploration mission being organised by the DM College of Science was also attended B Haridas Sharma, retired Director, Agriculture Department and Dr P Ranbir, Principal, DM College of Science among others.

The exploration team comprises 10 males and four female members who are researchers, scholars and students.

The team is being monitored and observed by retired Colonel RK Rajendra.

The team would explore the Khomunnon cave and it is expected to open a new chapter in the history of the world.

Speaking on the occasion, E Binoy said that exploration and excavation of Khomunnom cave, which is to be taken up for the first time by DM College of Science, is indeed appreciable and at the same time important.

The excavation of the cave would enable the team to explore the prehistoric events and trace the true history of the state.

He observed that it is a good sign that developed countries are investing huge amount of money for investigation and study of prehistoric sites.

Discoveries from such deep exploration would enable us to learn more and shed light on the truth of human history.

B Haridas informed that the excavated things from the cave would be carbon tested to trace the history of human settlement in Manipur.

This would further strengthen the identity of the Manipuris.

Source: Hueiyen News Service

Expedition team finds new cave

The 20th edition of the International Cave Expedition under the project Caving in the Abode of the Clouds was able to explore a new cave known as Krem Khung in Larket of Jaintia Hills district.

According to the Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association general secretary, Brian D. Kharpran Daly, the cave strewn with massive boulder blocks, has been explored and mapped to 5,120 metres.

He said the mapping of the remaining part of the cave is on.

The other achievements of the 2012 Expedition include the surveying of Krem Lymke, which will be completed next year, extension of the Krem Labit Kseh in the Kopili Valley from 5,694m to 5,992m in length with fine river passages and beautifully decorated dry relic passages like the Black Diamond and Crystal Gallery and documentation of various cave fauna.

The expedition team consisted of cavers from the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Romania, the US, Portugal, Iran, a commandant of the Indian Navy and members of the association.

The team split into two groups — one operating in the areas of Kseh, Larket and Khahnar of Jaintia Hills and another in Mawsynram and Balat areas of the East Khasi Hills.

Amarnath Yatra duration shrunken by three weeks

For 2012 pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath, pilgrims will have to produce a health fitness certificate and the tracks will be open only for 37 days. The decisions announced Sunday were taken on basis of past experiences of problems in clearing the tracks in time and the crisis that aged and frail faced uphill.

The pilgrimage will start on June 25 and will conclude on August 2, coinciding with the Rakhsha Bandnan. The shrine got a record 634 thousand pilgrims in 2011 which was a huge jump over 458 thousand pilgrims that it got in 2010.

Reduction in the duration of yatra was suggested by a sub committee led by Sri Sri Ravi Shanker. "Consequent to detailed deliberations, the Board accepted the recommendations of the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar sub-committee and directed the CEO of the Board to timely commence the registration of pilgrims and ensure the effective management of the yatra which would commence on June 25 and conclude on Raksha Bandhan on August 2," a SASB spokesperson said.

Annual Hindu pilgrimage of Amarnath to start June 25

The annual Hindu pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine of Lord Shiva, in the south Kashmir Himalayas, will commence on June 25 this year.

It will last till Aug 2, according to a spokesman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) that manages the pilgrimage.

This decision was taken by the board at a meeting held in New Delhi Friday, the details of which were circulated to the media Saturday.

The logic behind having the pilgrimage for 39 days was the hostile weather conditions, which resulted in 107 deaths last year, when the pilgrimage commenced June 28 and lasted till Aug 13.

The cave shrine is situated at a height of 3,888 metres above sea level and has two routes leading to it, one from Pahalgam, about 100 km from Srinagar, and another from Baltal, 110 km from Srinagar.

The pilgrimage routes pass through high mountains and glaciers, involving a steep climb, and most of the track, despite clearance of snow, is slippery and full of slush, making it difficult for the pilgrims to negotiate the tortuous terrain.

Cave similar to Bhimbetka found in MP

Madhya Pradesh Archaeological Department has found a rare one-km-long cave in Raisen district similar to the famous world heritage site Bhimbetka, which is home to the rare rock paintings.

The one-km-long cave has been identified as "Mrigendranath Cave" near Patni village in Raisen district and Neely 80 km away from Bhimbetka, an official release said here today.

The Minister for Culture and Public Relations along with Secretary Culture Manoj Shrivastava and Commissioner Archaeology, JL Malpani visited the spot by walking for nearly three km from Patni village to reach Mrigendranath cave.

The cave's entry is so narrow that only one person at a time can enter it by virtually crawling, but once inside it is a huge and long cave having images of various gods, it said.

On entering inside one encounters the image of Lord Bajrangbali (Hanuman) and feet of Lord Shiva carved neatly carved on a stone, the release said.

There are different kinds of natural stone resembling Gajanan, crocodile, frog, Govardhan and Siddha Baba it said.

The experts also found Gupta Godavari cave, Vindhyachal cave figures of Gajanan and fish, seven Yagna Kunds and Dhunis inside it, the release said.

The government is planning to develop the spot as a major tourist attraction by launching preservation and beautification drive.

Source: Zeenews

Holy Ice-lingam melts in Amarnath cave shrine

The holy Ice Lingam of Lord Shiva, built automatically inside the cave shrine of Amarnath, has melted completely due to heavy influx of pilgrims this year. However, notwithstanding the condition of Ice Lingam, a batch of 1,455 pilgrims left here Tuesday for onward journey to the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas.

Comprising 863 men, 169 women, 35 children and 388 sadhus, the 32nd batch left from the base camp at Bhagwati Nagar here in a fleet of 41 vehicles at 1130 hours, officials said.

The pilgrims are expected to reach their respective destinations of Baltal and Nunwan in Pahalgam base camps by this evening, they said.

With today's batch, as many as 76,435 pilgrims have left from here to perform darshan of the naturally formed Ice-lingam at the 3,888 metre high cave shine.

Source: Zeenews

Rs 20,000 crore treasure hidden in Hyderabad cave?

The hunt for a reported treasure trove in the heart of Hyderabad city by the state archaeological department was suspended on Monday afternoon after a two-day digging operation did not yield any results. The search may resume on Tuesday. Mohammed Siddique reports.

Chenna Reddy, director, AP archaeological department, said that the excavation with an earth-mover machine was suspended as they could not find any signs of a cave or tunnel where some people claimed to have seen a treasure trove more than a year ago.

"We have requested the National Mineral Development Corporation to provide us sophisticated geological sensor equipment to pinpoint the location of an underground tunnel," he said.

A team of officials of NMDC visited the site of the excavation in a private school premises in Saifabad area of Hyderabad which is bang opposite the state secretariat.

The NMDC was likely to send a team of experts with equipment to help in the search operation on Tuesday.

The archaeological department personnel started the digging operation at the bottom of the famous Naubat Pahad from inside the school premises on the basis of information provided by a group of nine people including D S Rama Raju, a Coal India Ltd official.

Forces recover arms, ammunition from cave hideout

A natural cave set amid the high altitude mountainous Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir turned out to be a hideout with security forces discovering five weapons, 1,500 rounds of ammunition, 110 explosive devices and 5 kilograms of RDX.

During a search operation on specific information provided by the 10 Rashtriya Rifles Batallion, a 3-feet by 6-feet cave with a height of 5 feet at the high altitude Mansu Nallah in Dessa area was uncovered, officials said.

The forces recovered five weapons, including Sniper Rifles, Carbine rifle, Self Loading Rifle (SLR), two Revolvers besides, one UBGL apart from 1,502 rounds, including 1,356 AK rifle ammunition, 104 SLR rounds, 37 sniper rounds and 5 rounds of carbine, 3 sniper magazines, one carbine magazine, officials said.

Besides this, 110 explosive devices, including 15 Chinese grenades, 25 UBGL grenades, nine 60mm mortar bombs, 8 RPGs, 23 detonators and 40 gelatin sticks besides one battery of IED mechanism, one binocular and 4 radio sets were also recovered from the hideout.

This is one of the biggest recoveries of arms and ammunition caches in recent times and will definitely have an adverse impact on the militant outfits in the area, they said.

Source: Zeenews

Mustang cave diggers look at bigger picture

With the discovery of a series of similar ancient man-made caves in the highlands of Nepal, India, Pakistan and other countries, the researchers digging into the Mustang's "cave civilisation" now wonder whether there existed an independent civilisation in the Himalayan range of the Indian subcontinent.

The experts say man-made caves similar to that of Mustang have been found in several other parts of the Himalayan range that stretches around 3,000 km joining India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet Autonomous Region of China. According to Mohan Singh Lama, research officer at the Department of Archaeology, masks recovered from several cave complexes in Mustang cave excavation of 2011 were similar to those found in the caves of Ladakh of North East India and Taulin village of Nari province in Tibet. Like Mustang, both Ladakh and Nari province are parts of the Himalayan range.

Masks recovered from these three places are supposed to have been made of similar materials. According to Lama, the masks and idols religiously resembled the deities of Bon religion. Bon is supposed to be a religion popular in Himalayas during the pre-Buddhist era.

"Discoveries of similar cave settlements in various parts of the Himalayan range hint that the area may have witnessed an independent civilisation thousands of years ago," said Lama, adding the new finding challenges an established fact that human settlement of entire Indian subcontinent was influenced either by the Indus Valley civilisation or the Chinese civilisation. "If Himalayas emerge as an independent civilisation, it will be the third and probably the most influential one to affect the settlements of mountainous regions of Asia."

Tourist dies in cave near Shillong

Ujjal Ghosh, 54, a Baranagar resident, collapsed and died while trying to cross a cave in Meghalaya’s Cherrapunji on Wednesday. Ghosh had gone with a group from the city. “We have informed his family about the death. They are expected to arrive soon,” said a police officer in Shillong.

Suicide bid: Sulekha Singh, a Class IX student of a central Calcutta school, jumped from the first floor of a building on Eden Hospital Road on Wednesday afternoon after an altercation with her parents over her exam results. She was admitted to Calcutta Medical College and Hospital with an ankle fracture.

Death: Neville de Noronha, former principal of Nopany Vidyalaya and winner of The Telegraph School Awards, died in Bangalore at 4.30pm on Monday. He had been hospitalised after suffering a stroke on December 9.

Source: Telegraph India