BRAHMINES à Sylhet, Inde (Caverne des)
25.175000,91.816700
Description
One of the earliest caves, which European visitors had noticed in Meghalaya, was represented by a more or less horizontal cave with a cave entrance that requires a short ladder to descend into it and which lies on an unidentified »left-hand side« (unspecified direction) in a kind of courtyard or enclosure, which is reached by walking upstream along the bed of a seasonal stream flowing in a karst alley. Inside the cave and some 400 m from the entrance is a pool of water. About a mile (or so) from the entrance, the main passage is said to lead to what has been interpreted as a »religious shrine« (cult spot). ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Indian cave names in Meghalaya, which contain the word "Brahmin" (the name of a high Hindu caste; a priest; a socially or culturally superior person; a Hindu), may derive from a) "U Bamon" (SINGH, N 1906: 8) or "U Brahmon" (SINGH, N 1920: 52), a Khasi loan word (Bengali, Hindi etc.) for a »Brahmin« (SINGH, N 1906: 8; SINGH, N 1920: 52) b) "U Bubun" (CRACROFT, W 1831: 174), the name of a pagan deity (note 1) c) "ka pubon" (Khasi) »a cave; cavern« (SINGH, N 1920: 63)d) "bhavan" (Sanskrit, Hindi, etc.); literally »house, building« (LONELY PLANET, India 2005: 110), a »habitation« (STEIN, Marc Aurel 1899: 176), often implying that of a goddess, god, etc.e) "brahman" (Sanskrit), the ultimate reality underlying all phenomena (in Hinduism). IDENTITY: This »Caverne des Brahmines« or Brahmine Cave appears to be identical with –>Bhuban Cave (Jones 1827) but seems to be distinct from Krem –>Lymput, the –>Bhuvan Cave (Walters 1828). In both caves, however, a short climb down into the entrance gives access to about »a mile« of more or less horizontal cave passage with stalactite speleothems. The striking difference is the lay of the entrance: While the entrance to Krem Lymput is reached by walking up a not very steep slope of a hill, the entrance to the Brahmine Cave lies on the left-hand side (orographically right) of a kind of natural court or landing, which is reached by walking upstream along a small streambed. SITUATION 1895a: Not seen: The more or less original BRAHMINE CAVE (1895) needs to be identified, read and understood. SITUATION 1895b: A newspaper-cutting from the Allahabad Post (1895 May 3rd), of which a translation into French has been edited by nobody less than by Edouard-Alfred Martel (note 2), locates the entrance to »la cavernes des Brahmines à Sylhet« (the Brahmine Cave at Sylhet) on the northern border of the Sylhet district, in the country of Assam, and at an unspecified distance of 450 km -- perhaps along a travelling route or, perhaps again, in a direct line -- north-east of Calcutta. The "natural excavation" lies in a limestone country, about five miles east from »Therriah Ghât« or Therriaghat (note 3), and at the foot of the »collines des Khassias« or Khasi Hills (note 4). APPROACH 1895: A good path leads from the "steam-way" station »Bhotagunge« (sic!) or Bholaganj (note 5) via »Bonsurs and Borphu« (note 6), where one has to cross a small stream, to a kind of court or landing (note 7) with the "gateway" or entrance to the cave (note 8). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1895a: Not seen: BRAHMINE CAVE (1895). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1895b: A 2.5 m-long bamboo ladder is necessary to descend down into the interior of the cave, where one is amazed to observe a low temperature before one finds a fine way in collapsed nummulitic limestone, which runs north for a distance of 400 m or so. Here, one arrives at a pool of clear, extremely cold water of unknown depth. Grand stalactites (speleothems) hang from the ceiling and reflect the light of the torches. A bamboo raft allows the crossing of the pool, whereupon the path continues traversing a series of other chambers. At the extreme north of this second part of the cave, one finds signs of the ancients, perhaps a hermitage or the chapel of an unknown belief. The question of the pilgrimage arises, and for what except curiosity the public takes the inconvenience of this place. The best season to visit is between December and the end of February, when neither insects nor reptiles are a nuissance. Daylight enters up to 90 m from the entrance (note 9).
NOTE 1: »Musmai cavern [Krem Mawsmai] … The Kasiah people have a tradition of its being the residence of a spirit, named Bubún …« (CRACROFT, W 1831: 174).NOTE 2: »Notre collègue, M. Oldham [i.e. "Mister" Prof. Thomas Oldham 1816-1878], directeur du Geological Survey of India à Calcutta, nous adresse les renseignements suivants d'apès le Morning Post d'Allahabad, du 3 mai 1885« (CAVERNE DES BRAHMINES 1895: 104). Thomas Oldham (then Director of the Geological Survey of India) had forwarded the newspaper cutting (not seen) from the Morning Post of Allahabad (3rd May 1895), which is said to have been titled »Brahmine Cave«, to the French speleologist Edouard - Alfred Martel, who translated and edited the report in Spelunca (Paris 1895, vol. 1, no. 3: 104-105) where the cave description is said to originate from a paper by a certain »M.« (Monsieur) Walters, judge at Calcutta, and is said to have appeared in the 1820 volume of Asiatic Researches. This is not the case.The 1820 volume (i.e. volume 13) contains neither a contribution by any Mister Walters nor another author's memoir relating to the area or the cave. In the entire series of the Asiatic Researches, there is only one paper by a certain »H.« (Henry) WALTERS (1832, 17: 499-512, memoir VI: Journey across the Pandua Hills near Silhet in Bengal) and this article does not describe Brahmine Cave but the –>Bhuvan Cave (Walters 1828), a.k.a. Krem –>Lymput, complete with a cave plan printed side by side with the cave plan of the –>Bhuban Cave (Jones 1827). NOTE 3: The polar coordinates »five miles east of Therriaghat« (8 km east of N25°10'45": E091°45'15”) place the entrance to »la caverne des Brahmines« in the area between N25°11': E091°48' and E091°50' and thus in the vicinity of Nongjri (Nongjri Bazar N25°10'45”: E091°48'18”) from where Krem –>Lymput is known but no cave with an entrance like that of Brahmine Cavern. Assuming a type-setter's »arrow« (error) and substituting the printed "five miles" with a distance of »9 miles« (14 km) east from Therriaghat, the indicated location would lie near N25°11': E091°50' to E091°54' and thus in the vicinity of Nongshken (Hat Nongshken N25°10'50”: E091°53'20”: 40 m asl, Everest 1830, Survey of India sheet: 78-O/16 edition 1911), a village (and area) from where rumours of caves have been heard. NOTE 4: »… Brahmine Cave, sur la lisière Nord du district de Sylhet (ou Silhatt, pays d'Assam, 450 kilom. N.-E. de Calcutta) … C'est un excavation naturelle dans le terrain calcaire, à 5 milles environ à l'Est de Terriah Ghât, au pied des collines des Khassias« (CAVERNE DES BRAHMINES 1895: 104). NOTE 5: »Bhotagunge« is a misprint for "Bholagunge" (Anglo-Indian for Bholaganj), the former railhead and valley station of the Cherrapunjee ropeway indicated as »Bholaghat« (Bengali) near (±1 km) N25°09'57”: E091°44'45” (WGS84 modified from N25°09'55”: E091°44'55” Everest 1830) on the Survey of India sheet 78-O/12 (edition 1912). NOTE 6: I cannot identify »Bonsurs« and »Borphu« but I strongly suspect they correspond to the villages Banpur (±500 m N25°09'55”: E091°49'30” WGS84 on the Bangladesh side) and Barpunji Bazar (±500 mN25°10'30”: E091°49'15” WGS84 on the Meghalaya side), which are indicated on the Survey of India sheet 78-O/12 (edition 1912) in the Bangladesh Plains above the banks of the Bhuban Chara (mouth near N25°08': E091°50'45”) at distances of one or two kilometres south-east of Dukabor (N25°10'45”: E091°48'45") and thus on one of the possibly ways to Krem –>Lymput. NOTE 7: »Un bon chemin y conduit depuis la station Bhotagunge du tramway à vapeur gouvermental; il pas par Bonsurs et Bhorpu, où l'on traverse un petit cours d'eau, pour gagner bientôt une sorte de cour ou vestibule naturel …« (CAVERNE DES BRAHMINES 1895: 104-105). NOTE 8: The entrance situation described in the text of CAVERNE DES BRAHMINES (1895) is strikingly similar with that shown on the cave plan of the unidentified –> Buban Cave (Jones 1827) and both the text ("bassin d'eau… radeau de bambou") and the cave plan ("Shrimp Pool" at station 9) note a remarkable pool of water. This is where the similarity ends.Several ascents and descents are marked in the plan but none at the cave entrance and it is here where the only descent mentioned in the text is found. The text mentions an obscure hermitage and "chapel" (chhattri?) which is not shown on the cave plan but an engineer has, of course, no sense of cultural relevance.»We believe it [Buban Cave, Jones 1827] is the cavern of which a description in French, containing more fiction than fact, was published some years ago« (anonymous editior, Asiatic Journal, Calcutta, 1827, vol. 24, no. 144: 756). NOTE 9: »… l'arcade d'entrée de la caverne se trouve à gauche, mais une 'echelle de bambous longe de 8 pieds (environ 2m50) est nécessaire pour y descendre. A l'interieur, on est d'abord étonné de la basse température observée ; puis on suit un sentier racé parmi des éboulis de calcaire nummulique, dans la direction du Nord jusqu'a la distance de 400 mètres (?) ; là, on se trouve arrêté par un bassin d'eau claire, extrêmement froid et de profondeur inconnue. De grandes stalactites pendent des voútes et réfléchissent la lueur des torches. Un radeau de bambou permet de traverser le bassin, au-delà duquel le sentier reprand et conduit à traverse une série d'autres chambres. A l'extrémité nord de cette seconde partie de la caverne on trouve des indices anciens, soit d'un ermitage, soit d'un chapelle de rite inconnu. La question de pèlerinage mise de côté, il est fâcheux que le public ignore un endroit aussi curieux. La saison la plus favorable à une visite est du milieu de décembre à la fin d février,époque où il n'y a aucun reptile ni insecte nuisible. La lumière du jour ne se distinque que jusqu'à 90 métres de l'entrée« (CAVERNE DES BRAHMINES 1895: 105).
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1895 May 3: The description of »Brahmin Cave« (near Silhatt? for Sylhet) is said to have been published in the 3rd May 1895 issue of the Morning Post of Allahabad (CAVERNE DES BRAHMINS 1895: 104 after BRAHMINE CAVE 1895) but I have not seen it. 1895: A French translation (perhaps by Edouard - Alfred Martel) of the newspaper report BRAHMINE CAVE (1895) appears in Spelunca (CAVERNE DES BRAHMINS 1895: 104-105).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | BHUBAN CAVE (Jones 1827) | ||
| 0.9 | DUKABOR (Krem) | ||
| 1.1 | KURDROT (Krem) | ||
| 1.2 | MAWKANONG, Wah Thyllong (Krem) | ||
| 1.2 | LUBON - LUM BNAI (Krem) | ||
| 1.2 | LUM BNAI (Krem) | ||
| 1.6 | WAH THYLLONG, Nongjri - Therria (Krem) | ||
| 2.0 | KHRIANG (Krem) | ||
| 2.2 | PRIANG, Nongjri - Therria (Krem) |