YAGANTI, 1st (Cave at)
15.350000,78.138900
Description
The eastern cave at Yaganti is reached by a flight of steps which steeply ascends WNW to the south-facing lower cave entrance (up to 3 m wide and high), which is shaped like a vaulted triangle and gives access to a 35 m long, joint-guided and a solitary, linear cave passage. Ascending across man-made steps and beneath a couple of aligned ceiling windows (rift pot entrances), the visitor reaches an artificial platform (14 m above the cave entrance floor and 11 m below the lowest point at the rim of the highest daylight window) constructed at the intersection of two vertical joints (025°, 115°) crossing each other at right angles. Up here a few stalactites [speleothems] spend their time on the NW wall. The statue of a Nandi bull (Shiva's mount) facing NNE and towards an imported lingam is put up on a plinth resting on the limestone slab-paved and vertically daylight-lit platform. The exposed surface of the flagstones became smooth and shining due to centuries of inadvertent polishing by bare footed humans who came and went thinking to leave no trace. ETYMOLOGY: It matters only virtually that Internet webshites (note 1) advertise a tourist attraction called »Sanka Cave« (sic!) but this is only a cheap corruption of a Shankar Cave where »shankar« is an epithet for Shiva as the creator. CAVE DESCRIPTION: The modified natural temple cave dedicated to Shiva is one of the two caves at Yaganti, which both represent »enlarged rifts along lines of jointing in the limestone« where the »walls show bunches and fringes of stalactites here and there, but their floors are conceiled by flagging and steps built by devotees who have erected shrines there« (FOOTE, R B 1884a: 33). CULTURAL HISTORY - Human use: The religious show cave attracts pious pilgrims. DUTT, N V B S (1955, plate 1 figure 2, plate 2 figure 1) gives two monochrome photographs showing aspects Shiva Gavi. FOOTE, R B (1884a: 33) noticed »… floors … conceiled by flagging« and concluded that »exploration« in the sense of destructive archaeological excavation »… is of course out of the question at present« till today.
NOTE 1: tourismsouthindia.com/andhra-pradesh-travel (accessed 22.12.2004), incredibletourism.com/andhra-pradesh-travel (2007.12.14).
Documents
Bibliography 05/07/2016Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | YAGANTI, 2nd (Cave at) | ||
| 0.1 | YAGANTI, 3rd (Cave at) | ||
| 0.2 | Ulavalagondi 2 Crevice | ||
| 0.3 | YERRA ZARI GAVI | ||
| 0.9 | MOGASARAYANAGONDI CAVE | ||
| 1.0 | YAGANTI SECOND RAVINE CAVE (Foote 1884a: 33) | ||
| 1.2 | YERRA ZARI SPRING & CAVE | ||
| 1.9 | Ulavalagondi 1 Crevice | ||
| 1.9 | YAGANTI SINK, Katikavanikunia |