GUPTESHWAR CAVE, Godawari
27.541700,85.375000
Description
A relatively small, north-west facing cave entrance (about half a metre wide and high) gives access to a cave, which is not only the home of at least three distinct specied of bats (Chiroptera) and used as Hindu temple cave sacred to Mahadeva (Shiva), but also formed in limestone and supected to be of uncertain gravitational, tectonical or dissolutional origin (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 31). ETYMOLOGY: So far I saw the name of this cave called, transcribed, edited or printed as Bardyo, cave near CÍLEK, KACHA & HASEK (1989: 4); KNAB (1990: 8 item N11 "Unsearched cave near Bardyo village" after CÍLEK et al. 1989: 4) Bardyo, jeskyne u CÍLEK, KACHA & HASEK (1988: 102) Bat Cave, Godawari SHRESTA, S et al. (2009) Godavari cave CÍLEK, KACHA & HASEK (1989: 4) Guptesvor (note 1) STEIN (1988: 16) Gupteswar Gupha DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 31, 32) Unsearched Cave KNAB (1990: 8 item N11 "Unsearched cave near Bardyo village" after CÍLEK et al. 1989: 4) SITUATION: From Kathmandu (Durbar Square), the cave entrance lies some 20 km in a direct line approximately south-east (CÍLEK et al. 1988: 102, 1989: 4) or about 30 km along the road south (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 32) at an elevation of about 2500 m asl (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 32) on the south-west flank of the Phulchoki (note 2) and »hidden behind the Godawari [Godavari] temple« (CÍLEK et al. 1989: 4), in the forest above the village referred to as »Bhardeu«, »Bhardev« or »Bardyo« (note 3). DUCLUZAUX (1993c: 32) draws the attention of the cave hunting world to a signboard of the »Bhardev Development Comitee, Lapitpur [sic! qua: Lalitpur] district« (sic!) but obviously wanted to refer to the Bhardeu V.D.C. in the Lalitpur district. SITUATION 1989: »20 km SE of Kathmandu the marked mountain called Pulchoki Mai (2762 m.ü.M.) occurs. Near Bardyo village unsearched cave according to reliable local source exists« (KNAB 1990: 8 item N11). SITUATION 1988: In the south-west corner of the Kathmandu Valley and in the forest on the south side of Mount Pulchoki (note 4) at an altitude of 2500 m (STEIN 1988: 16). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1992: A relatively small, estimated 20 m long cave is rather formed by limestone dislocation than of karstic origin (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 32). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1988: »Un autre grotte ou un passage étroit)« or an other cave with a "constricted passage" in the sense of a dwar (STEIN 1988: 16). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1985a: Not only »a cave hidden behind the Godawari temple« but also a spring of water (note 5) is reputed to exist somewhere near the village of »Bardyo« at the mountain »Pulcloki Mai (2762 m)« in the »Pulclok area« (CÍLEK, KACHA & HASEK 1988: 102). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1985b: »Pulclok area -- 20 km SE of Kathmandu the marked mountain called Pulcloki Mai (2762 m) occurs. The spring emerging in Godawari temple is probably karst rising. Near Bardyo village unsearched cave according to reliable local sources exists. The legend speaks about the cave hidden behind Godawari temple. We did not search the area« (CÍLEK, KACHA & HASEK 1989: 4). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2009: »Godawari … [2nd November 2009] The morning started with hiking to the nearby bat cave, the mouth of which was bounded by large rocks lying on the side and below. The entrance was a difficult slit and we dropped down by hanging to a large root. The 100 m was a broad passage which ended with a large dome-like area with a lot of small short routes and very difficult to go through« (THAPA et al. 2009: 21). CULTURAL HISTORY -- temple cave, pilgrimage site, and dwar: STEIN (1988: 16): Mahadev (Shiva) is venerated in this cave (or narrow passage) to which a pilgrimage leads (note 7).DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 32) had learned (no source mentioned) that this cave is said to be a pilgrimage site in winter but it is in autum when the mountain is dangerous due to the presence of cats (tigers, leopards) which, however, are known to attack only humans spontaneously (note 8). CAVE CLIMATE: DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 32) arrived at an unspecified time on an unidentified day in autumn 1992 at having the impression of feeling that the cave temperature seemed to be relatively cool in comparison with one or the other cave in Nepal (note 9). CAVE LIFE - bats (Chiroptera): »A small colony [day roost] about six individual of Hipposideros armiger were seen hanging at the dome shaped space. A few small bats escaping from the difficult small and short routes were successfully scoop-netted. We took morphometric measurements and photographs and immediately released bats without any stress. We identified them in the spot as Rhinolophus affinis and Myotis nipalensis« (THAPA et al. 2009: 21-22).
NOTE 1: »C'est le lieu-dit Guptesvor (secret, caché)« (STEIN 1988: 16). NOTE 2: The summit of Pulchoki is indicated near (±500 m) N27°34'17”: E085°24'34”: 2765 m asl (unknown geodetic datum) on the Central Service Map sheet [unnumbered 25, 26, 27] covering the three districts of Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and Lalitpur (1989 edition) at a distance of 17.5 km in a direct line south-east of the Kathmandu city (±500 m N27°42'15”: E085°18'40”). So far, I saw the name of the hill called or spelled, edited or printed as hill m asl source 2765 India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth (2006: H3) Phulchoki 2765 Central Service Map: Kathmandu Valley (edition 1989) Phulchowki THAPA, Sanjan et al. (2009: 21, 22) Phulcoki DUCLUZAUX, B (1993d: 32) Pulcloki Mai 2762 CÍLEK, KACHA & HASEK (1988: 102). NOTE 3: The village of »Bardyo« (KNAB 1990: 8) or »Bhardev« (DUCLUZAUX 1993: 32) is indicated as »Bhardeu« near (±500 m) N27°32'51”: E085°23'11” (unknown geodetic datum) on the unnumbered Central Service Map [25, 26, 27] covering the three districts of Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and Lalitpur (1989 edition) at a linear distance of about 3 km south-west from the summit of Phulchoki .2765. NOTE 4: »… située au Sud-est de la vallée de Kathmanu, au Sud du mont Pulchoki, dans la forêt, à 2500 m d'altitude« (STEIN 1988: 16). NOTE 5: »… posvátny pramen vyverající u chrámu Gódáwarí je pravdepodobne krasovy vyver. Místni lide dokonce hovori o jeskyni skryté za pramenem. Dalsi jeskyne se má úddajne nalézat ve vyssích partíich kopce u vesnice Bardyo (Shyam, ústní sdelení). Oblast nebyla nikdy zkoumána« (CÍLEK, KACHA & HASEK 1988: 102). NOTE 6: »… grotte (ou un passage êtroit) … On y vénère Mahadev, On s'y rend en pèlerinage« (STEIN 1988: 16). NOTE 7: »La cavité est froide (pour Nepal)« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 32). NOTE 8: »Cette petite grotte … s'agit d'un lieu de pèlerinage en hiver. En été, cette montagne est très dangereuse : prèsence de tigres et de léopards (qui attaquent l'homme spontanément)« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 32).
Documents
Bibliography 15/07/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1985 August - November: Vaclav Cílek (geologist), S. Kacha (cave surveyor), J. Mynar (driver), the cavers Z. Rerábek, A. Kobryn, V. Janácek, and the leader Z. Hasek commenced refraining from tracking and exploring the »cave hidden behind Godawari temple« (CÍLEK et al. 1989: 4): »Oblast nebyla nikdy zkoumána« (CÍLEK et al. 1988: 102), »We did not search the area« (CÍLEK et al. 1989: 4). 1988: Rolf A. STEIN (1988: 16) continued refraining from tracking and exploring »un autre grotte ou un passage étroit)« [another cave or constricted passage] at 2500 m asl in the forest on the south-west flank of Pulchoki. 1989.09 - 1989.10: Oliver KNAB (1990: 8 item N11) repeated refraining from tracking and exploring the »Unsearched Cave near Bardyo village.« 1992.10.16 - 1992.11.30: Bruno Ducluzaux and Pascal Schenker appear to have been the first European cave collectors who had the gumption to actually track and visit »Gupteswar Gupha, Bhardev« and, for that matter, during the season when dangerous humans are spontaneously attacked by cats. They simply entered, explored and surveyed the interior topography of the cave to a degree resulting in a cave plan along with an elevation, and cared to see the drawing published on what is either no scale or a wrong scale (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 31).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | BISHANKHU NARAYANA GUFA | ||
| 11.6 | PHARPHING TUNNEL | ||
| 12.3 | BASBARI | ||
| 12.3 | BASBARI 2 | ||
| 12.3 | BASBARI 3 (Cave at) | ||
| 12.3 | BASBARI 4 (Cave at) | ||
| 12.3 | BASBARI 5 (Cave at) | ||
| 12.3 | BASBARI 6 (Cave at) | ||
| 12.3 | BASBARI 7 (Cave at) |