KANCHI KO KHOPI
28.113900,83.166700
Description
A 6 m climb up (in autumn 1992 with the help of a bamboo ladder) gains the north-east facing entrance (about 4 m or 5 m wide and high) of a locally well-known temple cave, which contains secondary calcite formations (speleothems) and »just so many holes to enter and leave« (ATTRACTION … 1988.07.29). ETYMOLOGY: "Kanchi ko Khopi" (Gorkhali aka Nepali), literally »Youngest Sister's Cave«, translates also as »Beautiful Girl's Cave« (note 1) and is, perhaps, a cave name deriving from the transition / initiation rite "gupha basne" or »cave sitting« on occasion of the first occurrence of menstruation (note 2). So far, I saw the name of this cave called, transcribed, edited or printed as Bisho Gupha (note 3) DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26, 27); DUCLUZAUX, JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1944) [Grotte de] Dhurkot DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26); DUCLUZAUX, JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1944) Gulmi Cave, Dharkot M. Narayana Reddy (1993 personal communication after ATTRACTION … 1988.07.29: 6) Khanchi ko Khopi (ATTRACTION OF GULMI 1988.07.29: 6) SITUATION: About 20 m in a direct line north-west of a temple dedicated to an unknown god or goddess (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 27 cave plan) which stands in an unspecified spatial relation to the village of »Dharkot« or »Dhurkot« (note 4), high above the orographically right (south-west) bank of the Chhalli Khola / Challi Khola (note 5), and at a linear distance of 10 km WNW from Tamghas (note 6). It is rather not impossible than possible to pay a hasty visit to the cave in the course of a day trip from Tamghas (note 7). POSITION: DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26, 27) associates his »la grotte de Dhurkot« aka »Bisho Gupha« with the impressive and nice to look at but enigmatic coordinates »x=712,7; Y=3112,8; z=1540 m« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26) or »712,7/3112,8 altitude 1540 m« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 27), which seem to have been extracted from an unspecified edition of an unidentified »carte ACAP« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 11). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1988: »This [Gulmi Cave near Dharkot] is one of the biggest and natural caves of Nepal. ... [it is] surrounded by stones. One can go 140 m inside this cave. Besides there are so many holes which are used for coming and going inside the room. Another wonder of this cave is that there are three big spaces inside the cave where volleyball can be played. From this space the upper portion can be hardly see even with the help of torches. The cave is made of different colour stones reflecting golden and silvery coloures in the light of petromax [soot spreading kerosin lamp]. This wonderful cave was discovered by archaeological people only two or three months back. These days people visit this cave from nearby districts« (ATTRACTION… 1988: 6, translated 1993 by M. Narayani Reddy from Hindi in Devanagari script into English in Roman script). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1992 (DUCLUZAUX 1993: 26): The comparatively magnificent and allegedly "fossil" (sic! qua: relic) cave, which is formed in a bank of bluish coloured limestone dipping at an angle of 10° north, contains man-sized cave passages, cave chambers, meandering cave passages, tube-shaped cave passages, secondary calcite deposits, and bats. Pointed out to the visitor are nine "dwar" (passage-ways) represented by one to two metre large constrictions and, in cases of G3, G6 and G7, indicated on the cave plan (note 8). Not too far from the cave entrance is a unidentified »dieux« (god), further in is an other »dieux« (god), at least part of the cave floor is covered with earth / soil, mud and unspecified »guano« (bat?), and in a remote corner is something pointed out as »Shiva« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 27 cave plan). CAVE POTENTIAL: The cave plan and longitudinal section provided by DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 27) shows nine (9) question marks, which can be interpreted to indicate unexplored or impenetrable continuations and, in the case of two ceiling meanders, leads at higher level which is not accessible without climbing aids. Plenty of limestone and karst landscape surfaces with a good kind of flutes (cannelures, Rillenkarren) were noticed on the approach but instant information about other caves in the vicinity was not readily available in autumn 1992 (note 9). SPELEOMETRY: The cave passage length of 140 m is not only claimed by the newspaper report ATTRACTION … (1988) but also by the caver DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26). CAVE LIFE: The word »guano« shown on the cave plan provided by DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 27) can be interpreted to indicate the presence of unspecified bats (Chiroptera).
A 6 m climb up (in autumn 1992 with the help of a bamboo ladder) gains the north-east facing entrance (about 4 m or 5 m wide and high) of a locally well-known temple cave, which contains secondary calcite formations (speleothems) and »just so many holes to enter and leave« (ATTRACTION … 1988.07.29). ETYMOLOGY: "Kanchi ko Khopi" (Gorkhali aka Nepali), literally »Youngest Sister's Cave«, translates also as »Beautiful Girl's Cave« (note 1) and is, perhaps, a cave name deriving from the transition / initiation rite "gupha basne" or »cave sitting« on occasion of the first occurrence of menstruation (note 2). So far, I saw the name of this cave called, transcribed, edited or printed as Bisho Gupha (note 3) DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26, 27); DUCLUZAUX, JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1944) [Grotte de] Dhurkot DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26); DUCLUZAUX, JUBERTHIE & DECU (2001: 1944) Gulmi Cave, Dharkot M. Narayana Reddy (1993 personal communication after ATTRACTION … 1988.07.29: 6) Khanchi ko Khopi (ATTRACTION OF GULMI 1988.07.29: 6) SITUATION: About 20 m in a direct line north-west of a temple dedicated to an unknown god or goddess (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 27 cave plan) which stands in an unspecified spatial relation to the village of »Dharkot« or »Dhurkot« (note 4), high above the orographically right (south-west) bank of the Chhalli Khola / Challi Khola (note 5), and at a linear distance of 10 km WNW from Tamghas (note 6). It is rather not impossible than possible to pay a hasty visit to the cave in the course of a day trip from Tamghas (note 7). POSITION: DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26, 27) associates his »la grotte de Dhurkot« aka »Bisho Gupha« with the impressive and nice to look at but enigmatic coordinates »x=712,7; Y=3112,8; z=1540 m« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26) or »712,7/3112,8 altitude 1540 m« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 27), which seem to have been extracted from an unspecified edition of an unidentified »carte ACAP« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 11). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1988: »This [Gulmi Cave near Dharkot] is one of the biggest and natural caves of Nepal. ... [it is] surrounded by stones. One can go 140 m inside this cave. Besides there are so many holes which are used for coming and going inside the room. Another wonder of this cave is that there are three big spaces inside the cave where volleyball can be played. From this space the upper portion can be hardly see even with the help of torches. The cave is made of different colour stones reflecting golden and silvery coloures in the light of petromax [soot spreading kerosin lamp]. This wonderful cave was discovered by archaeological people only two or three months back. These days people visit this cave from nearby districts« (ATTRACTION… 1988: 6, translated 1993 by M. Narayani Reddy from Hindi in Devanagari script into English in Roman script). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1992 (DUCLUZAUX 1993: 26): The comparatively magnificent and allegedly "fossil" (sic! qua: relic) cave, which is formed in a bank of bluish coloured limestone dipping at an angle of 10° north, contains man-sized cave passages, cave chambers, meandering cave passages, tube-shaped cave passages, secondary calcite deposits, and bats. Pointed out to the visitor are nine "dwar" (passage-ways) represented by one to two metre large constrictions and, in cases of G3, G6 and G7, indicated on the cave plan (note 8). Not too far from the cave entrance is a unidentified »dieux« (god), further in is an other »dieux« (god), at least part of the cave floor is covered with earth / soil, mud and unspecified »guano« (bat?), and in a remote corner is something pointed out as »Shiva« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 27 cave plan). CAVE POTENTIAL: The cave plan and longitudinal section provided by DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 27) shows nine (9) question marks, which can be interpreted to indicate unexplored or impenetrable continuations and, in the case of two ceiling meanders, leads at higher level which is not accessible without climbing aids. Plenty of limestone and karst landscape surfaces with a good kind of flutes (cannelures, Rillenkarren) were noticed on the approach but instant information about other caves in the vicinity was not readily available in autumn 1992 (note 9). SPELEOMETRY: The cave passage length of 140 m is not only claimed by the newspaper report ATTRACTION … (1988) but also by the caver DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26). CAVE LIFE: The word »guano« shown on the cave plan provided by DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 27) can be interpreted to indicate the presence of unspecified bats (Chiroptera).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17.2 | CHANDRAKOT COPPERMINE | ||
| 22.3 | OKHARBOT | ||
| 25.4 | SHORAH KHANI | ||
| 29.3 | SIDDHESHWAR GUFA, Ridi | ||
| 32.9 | RIDI ODAR | ||
| 36.0 | GALKOT COPPER MINE | ||
| 37.0 | CHAMERE DULO KHARBARE | ||
| 39.4 | PHUGRON PHUG | ||
| 43.7 | SIDDHA GUFA, Awal (Shree) |