BHOIRA KA BHOIRU
22.136100,71.335600
Description
A very low, bat infested bedding plane crawl in the back of a dilapidating man-made rock temple. The natural part of the cave developed at the contact of soft (Pliocene - Pleistocene) "miliolitic limestone" with an underlying, greyish black coloured, fine grained, and muddy sandstone. SITUATION: In what appears to be an isolated outcrop of miliolitic limestone in the Mandaw (Mandhav) Hills of the Thanga range at Bhoira village, which lies 16.5 km in a direct line or about 20 km (note 1) along the road north-east (051°) of Jasdan (note 2 ), which itself is reached from kilometre 55 on the road from Rajkot to Bhavnagar by travelling 5 km towards Dhauduka and Ahmedabad (Amadavad). CAVE DESCRIPTION: At the edge of Bhoira village and a few metres above the cutting of an abandoned railway line lies a small cave entrance, actually a tiny masonry gateway with a carved circular stepping stone. This little door gives access to a natural cave which was partly modified by man. The front portion has been enlarged and turned into a small man-made rock temple, nowadays devoid of any art and in a dilapidating state of repair. One corner of the four- pillared chaitya (circa 4 by 6 m wide, 1.8 m high) is actually collapsing and allows rubble and daylight to pour into the epigean sanctuary. On the left-hand side in the far end of this modified natural chaitya chamber (2 by 1.8 by 1.4 m) arrives a natural, unconventional, and stooping sized tunnel decreasing in height to a low belly crawl without air current. This enters a shallow and wide bedding plane passage filled almost to the ceiling with the excreta of bats (guano). CAVE POTENTIAL - Prospects: Further exploration requires a dedicated approach, clothing suitable for crawling, and power of persuasion. CULTURAL HISTORY - legend: The village headman strongly objected the attempt to push the crawl which was said to be a fabulous tunnel connecting to Junagadh (N21°31': E70°36'), 115 km away. CAVE LIFE: In January 1999 I noticed about 30 bats (Chiroptera) and what looked like a rather large (about 16 by 20 mm large) terrestrial isopod (woodlouse, Crustacea conf. Oniscidae) in the dusty rubble covering the floor.
NOTE 1: CRAVEN (1969: 27 after DISTRICT GAZETTEER, Bombay Presidency.- edited by WATSON, J. W. 1884, vol. 8 (Kathiawar), page 399) placed one »cave on Bhoira Hill« at a distance of »12 miles« (19.3 km) NE of Jasdan. NOTE 2: A low reliability 4-channel GPS reading (1999 January) resulted 20°02'30": 71°12'40" (±140 m, WGS84) at the Jasdan bus station. nima.mil/geonames (accessed 16.11.2003) positions Jasdan at N22°02': E71°12' (WGS84).
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1999 January 02: H. D. Gebauer sketched to grade 3b but did not attempt to push the crawl.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 133.1 | KHAMBHAT CAVE | ||
| 138.8 | JHINJHUWADA STEPWELL | ||
| 162.4 | Dada Hari Wav | ||
| 162.4 | MATA BHAVANI VAV | ||
| 165.1 | HUSSEIN - DOSHI GUFA | ||
| 171.8 | ADALAJ WAV | ||
| 180.5 | SURYA KUND, Modhera | ||
| 192.8 | NAULAKHI BAOLI | ||
| 205.0 | RANI ki VAV |