KAILASH CAVE, Kanger Valley
18.841700,81.997200
Description
A visitable and, if illuminated, visible show cave (note 1), which appears to have developed in a phreatic zone but fell dry at a later stage of maturity, leaving the relic of stream cave passage of which the entire floor is buried under an apparently thick cover of water-born sediments deposited under low energy conditions. The currently air-filled and accessible part of the cave passage dips away from the Kanger Valley but originally must have functioned as a subterranean tributary draining to Kanger river (note 2). ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous, indigenous or locally known cave name has been identified for what was named Kailash Cave after the mythological Mount Kailash. chhattisgarh.com (accessed 2009.01.16) lists among the unique »Chhattisgarh's natural structure« (sic!) the »Devgiri Gufa« as it is one of »Chhattisgarh's natural beutiful [sic!] places« (note 3). SITUATION: South of Jagdalpur (N19°04': E082°02'), within the –>Kanger National Park, and from the Forest Rest House (note 4) about 12 km along a soft surface road approximately east. The cave entrance itself lies on a south facing escarpment above the left (northern) bank of Kanger river, and about 40 or 50 m above a parking place (note 5). The relatively »small hole, having narrow entry« (cave entrance) lies »… at hill top of compartmnet No. 76 (Milkulwada beat) of Koleng Range« (AUTAR, K 1993: 1031). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1993: »… a small hole, having narrow entry« and explains that »Just at the entrance, stalactite fromation hanging from cave roof, attract the visitor. About 10 m away, there is a stalactite and stalagmite structure which looks like an idol of Lord Mahadev. While going down into the cave, if you look at the roof, beautiful formations resembling a hill range are visible. Beyong this point, there is a balcony and huge hall (40 m long, 30 m wide and 8 m high) called "Darbar Hall" and is virtually adorned with many chandeliers of different sizes and shapes. Many formations resembling animals, plants, Gods, Goddesses and Chandeliers glitter when the light is focussed on them [note 6]. After the Darbar hall, there is a beautiful gallery studded with many stalactites. Just at the end of the gallery, the cave bifurcates. The right [descending straight ahead south-east] is fairly long and ends with a worshipable structure called Temple Point. The left [north] part ends at a higher level. 15 m left from bifurcating point, there is a unique stalactite and stalagmite structure. It looks like a crocodile. After this point, while moving uphill, many good structures hanging down from the roof are visible. From here, one narrow and rocky passage takes visitors to a musical world -- called Sangeetalaya. Several milky white and attractive formations give pleasing melodious sound on tapping« (AUTAR, K 1993: 1031). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1997: A north-west facing, gated cave entrance in fallen rocks on the flank of a forest covered hill slope leads to a spacious, almost horizontal cave passage (on average 10 m to 30 m wide, up to estimated 15 m high), which takes a descending (15° to 25°) curve to the terminal, silted-up sump at an elevation 44 m below the entrance. The main passage and its tributaries are developed along the local dip of the strata. Apart from stalactites, several sizeable, possibly partly buried calcite formations (stalagmite and stalagnate speleothems) rise from the dry mud covered floor which is strewn with very few fallen boulders and rocks. The cave walls and ceilings expose the rhythmically structured and frequently alternating layers of the flaggy and stromatolitic Algonkian (Proterozoic) Kanger limestone, upon which weathering results in a surfaces reminiscent of corrugated iron sheets (Gebauer 1997.01.31). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2001: »The Kailash Cave is located on a small hill. Though the entrance to the cave is small, the sight that confronts one about 30 metres into the cave is nature's "carving" of an idol of Lord Shiva. The estimated length of the cave is 250 metres.« (DUREJA, M 2001.03.12). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2003: »This was found out by [not acknowledged] park stuff in 1993. The cave is 200 m long and its depth varies from 35 m to 50 m. A big 'Court Hall' inside the cave has its interior adorned with several attractive formations of limestone and dripstone. The cave offers, at one point, a view alike that of Kailash Parbat. Another point inside the cave produces musical sound when a limestone structure is gently tapped [note 7]« (KANGER VALLEY NATIONAL PARK circa 2003 s.a.: 4; forwarded by Daniel B. Harries, 2004.12). CAVE CLIMATE: In 1997 on 31. January, I measured in the lowerreaches of the cave at around 10 o'clock in the morning a temperature of 23.5°C in the air.
NOTE 1: »There is complete darkness in the cave. Hence adequate lighting arrangement is neccessary to see beautiful formations hidden in darkness« (AUTAR, K 1993: 1031). In January 1997 illumination was by tube lights powered by electricity from a diesel-fed generator put up just outside the cave entrance. »The stalagmite and stalacite formations of Kutumsar caves, Kailash cave and Dandak cave are popular attractions« (dailyexcelsior.com/web1/03dec03/national.htm#2 accessed 2006.09.17). »Kailash Cave … derives its name from the natural carving of the idol of Lord Shiva … and the salt deposits here, called the music point, sound musical when tapped with a stone« (gatewayforindia.com/tourism/bastar.htm acessed 2008.05.23).NOTE 2: It may be interesting to probe the sedimentary infilling in view of giving a clue to the development of the Kanger basin's drainage history. The built-up of the deposits may indicate that Kailash cave is an abandoned vauclusian spring. NOTE 3: The »beutiful« (chhattisgarh.com accessed 2009.01.16) natural places are »Kendai water fall, Khuntaghat, Bagicha, Bango, Amarkantaka, Darha, Ranidah, Guru ki Gufa, Mainpat, Tatapani, Ruksganda water fall, Amritdhara water fall, Kothali water fall, Sihava, Gangrail Jalashaya, Kharkhara Bandh, Keshkal, Panchvati, Bailadila, Chitrakot water fall, Teerathgarh water fall, Kunwara Soundarya, Manoram Sthal, Devgiri Gufa, Kailash gufa, Hathani Darha, Rani Darha.« NOTE 4: The Kotomsar Forest Rest House is indicated as »RH (Forest)« near N18°53'25”: E081°55'40” (Everest 1830) on the Survey of India toposheet 65-F/13 (1982 edition). NOTE 5: gatewayforindia.com/tourism/bastar.htm (accessed 2008.05.23) surprises with suspending the »Dark Dungeons« of Kailash Cave high up in tree tops or, literally quoted, »40 metres above the ground level … on a small hill in the Kanger Valley National Park.« NOTE 6: At this stage of enthusiasm, the National Park Director proposed a hypothesis according to which »these shining stalactite and stalagmite creations are so beautiful that anyone who is looking at them will automatically say: What a magical wonder world!« (AUTAR, K 1993: 1031). NOTE 7: http:TTcg.nic.in/cgbsap.htm (accessed 2008.05.20) "Chhattisgarh biodiversity strategy and action plan" page 95 repeats KANGER VALLEY NATIONAL PARK (circa 2003 s.a.: 4-5) literally but adds that »at the end of the cave one can see the Shivaling« -- but this is probably confused with the lingam in the most remote corner of –>Dandak Cave.
Documents
Bibliography 30/03/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1993.03.18: Krishna AUTAR (1993: 1031): »On the evening of 18th March 1993, a small hole, having narrow entry, was spotted at hill zop of compartmnet No. 76 (Milkulwada beat) of Koleng Range. Due to darkness, entry could not be made on that day.« K. Murugan (DFO, 1997.01.31, personal communication) confirms that unidentified "staff" (employees without names) of Kanger National Park discovered Kailash Cave. 1997.01.31: H. D. Gebauer (1997b, 2000) and Werner Busch mapped, assisted by M. Narayana Reddy, K. Murugan (Director), one Ram (cave guide) and other employees of the Kanger Valley National Park.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.2 | DEVGIRI CAVE | ||
| 4.2 | KANGER KARPAN CAVE | ||
| 4.2 | KANGER CAVE (Autar 1993) (aa -) | ||
| 5.5 | DANDAK CAVE | ||
| 7.3 | KOTOMSAR (Cave near) | ||
| 7.3 | GREEN CHAMBER CAVE | ||
| 13.5 | GUPTESHWAR CAVE, Koraput | ||
| 29.1 | KUMARGAON SPRING | ||
| 33.7 | MALGAM KARST SPRING |