BUDHER CAVE, Kotlia
30.775200,77.785600
Description
A cave entrance measuring »maximum 1 x 1 m (width and length)« (Kotlia 2005.11.07 Mss: Notebook) is said to take a relatively »enormous amount of water« (most likely seasonally) and gives access to an approximately 20 m long cave passage, which either is aligned on a bearing of 25 or 30 degree or descends at that angle to an unspecified end or continuation (note 1). This item is possibly identical with one of the –>Moila Swallets if not with the –>Moila Swallet proper. CAVE DESCRIPTION: »Ca. 20 m, with an angle of 25-30°, entrance receives enormous water and along with with water, several boulders (very angular) [note 2]. Country rock limestone mixed with micaceous rocks (metamorphic rocks) [note 3]. Entrance is not large maximum 1x1m (width and length). Very few stalactites [speleothems], one two traces of stalagmite [note 4]. Poor cave« (Kotlia 2005.11.07 Mss: Notebook). SITUATION: At an ununidentified location somewhere (note 5) in the vicinity of »Budher Guest House« or »BDRH« and »Forest Rest House« (Kotlia 2005.11.07 Mss: Notebook). The GPS positions (Garmin Etrex) recorded by Kotlia (2005.11.07 Mss: Notebook) add little but confusion as they indicate either »Budher Guest House, BDRH, Forest Rest House« (i.e. Forest Rest House) or the Budher Cave itself: POSITION 1 (note 6): 30°62'20.6”N: 77°78'12”E (Kotlia 2005.11.07, deleted). POSITION 2 (note 7): 30°45'44.0”N: 77°47'16.0”E: 2142 m asl (Kotlia 2005.11.07: »Budher Cave«). POSITION 3 (note 8): 30°77'52”N: 77°78'56”E: 2687 m asl (Kotlia 2005.11.07, Kotlia's GPS)POSITION 4 (note 9): 29°56'01”N: 80°00'25.9”E: 2701 m asl (Kotlia 2005.11.07, Breitenbach's GPS). CAVE POTENTIAL - Prospects: »No ideal cave for stelegmites [sic!] as [deleted: their] there enters a stream coming from surrounding mountains which are higher up than the entrance of cave« (Kotlia 2005.11.07 Mss: Notebook). VEGETATION: Cedrus deodara (Deodar Cedar).
NOTE 1: Judging from the cave description, the Budher Cave visited by Prof. Bahadur S. Kotlia (2005.11.07 Mss: Notebook) is possibly identical with the first metres of –>Moila Swallet though he does not mention the shaft dropping down into the cave proper. NOTE 2: One would expect allochthonous (allogenic) boulders transported by water to be rounded while angular boulders generally originate from incasional processes (collapse, breakdown) in situ (autochthonous, autogenic). NOTE 3: The »cave we examined« (i.e. –>Moila Swallet) is formed in »a Deoban limestone, or a similar rock containing included fragments which is found in the Mundali series« (GLEADOW 1898 edited 1940). NOTE 4: »We took all the stalactites and the stalagmites that were worth having, and a lot that were not« (GLEADOW 1898 edited 1940). NOTE 5: The original record reads: »7th Nov. Budher Guest HouseBDRH(Forest Rest House)2142 mN30°62'20.6" 30°45'44.0” Budher CaveE77°78'12" 77°47'16.0” My GPS 2687 mS.A. 2615.5 mN30°77'52”E77°78"56”Sebastian GPSAlt. 2701 mN29°56'01”E80°00'25.9”« NOTE 6: The GPS position »N30°62'20.6": E077°78'12"« make no sense unless they reflect the desperate attempt to interprete a GPS Garmin Etrex display showing N30.62206°: E077.78120° (format DD.DDDDDD°) equalling N30°37'19.4”: E077°46'52.3” (format DD°MM'SS.S”) -- but this interpretation arrives a spot without known caves about 11 km in a direct line south-west of Chakrata town. Be it as it may, it is Breitenbach (2006.11.17 personal correspondence: Dharamjali Höhlenplan) who forwards the statement of Prof. Bahadur S. Kotlia explaining that he selected with his GPS Garmin Etrex the geodetic datum "MSS" (bogus?) when positioning cave entrances in 2005: »Zu den Koordinaten aller Höhlen, die mit Kotlias GPS gemessen wurden (1. Trip 2005) hab ich rausbekommen das es nicht WGS84 sondern ein MSS (so Kotlia) gewesen sei.«NOTE 7: The GPS position »N30°45'44.0”: E077°47'16.0”« appears to relate to the Budher F.R.H. (Forest Rest House) which it is indicated near N30°45'44.5”: E077°47'15.2”: 2524 m asl (WGS84 modified from Everest 1830) on the Survey of India sheet 53-F/13 S2 (4 Inch to 1 Mile Forest Map series, ca. 1940). NOTE 8: The GPS position »N30°77'52”: E077°78"56”« makes no sense unless they reflect an attempt to interprete a GPS Garmin Etrex display showing N30.45440°: E077.78560° (format DD.DDDDDD°) equalling N30°46'30.7”: E077°47'08.2” (format DD°MM'SS.S”) -- a point on the approach from the south-east to Moila Tibba, the hill culminating near N30°46'35.5”: E077°46'58.2" (WGS84 modified from Everest 1830) at 9500 feet (2896 m asl) on the Survey of India sheet 53-F/13 S2 (4 Inch to 1 Mile Forest Map series, ca. 1940). NOTE 9: The GPS position »N29°56'01”: E080°00'25.9”« indicate a spot about 223 km in a direct line ESE of Chakrata and 231 km in a direct line ESE of the Budher Forest Rest House: A place (perhaps Bhir mandir / temple) somewhere in the vicinity of the Naikaneshwar Gupha that was visited (2005.11.05) two days earlier.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.2 | MOILA SWALLET | ||
| 0.2 | MOILA SWALLETS (Glennie 1946) | ||
| 0.3 | MOILA RUCKLE HOLE | ||
| 0.3 | MOILA MINE | ||
| 0.5 | MOILA TOAD HOLE | ||
| 0.5 | MOILA CEDAR POT | ||
| 1.5 | Royal Artillery Sink | ||
| 1.7 | MASAK VILLAGE POTHOLE | ||
| 1.9 | BHIAR DHAR |