GUPTESHWAR CAVE, Jabalpur
23.145700,79.918100
Description
A sacred and relatively low temple cave, which is just big enough to allow a dozen squatting devotees (up to 1.2 m in height, 2.6 m in width and about 5 m long), is dedicated to "Gupteshwar", the Hidden God or Secret Lord. SITUATION: The sacred site lies a few metres above the road adjacent to the Gupteshvar mandir, a popular temple complex 5 km west of Napier Town in the centre of Jabalpur. CAVE DESCRIPTION - interior design: The originally natural talus cave in between gravitationally dislocated granite boulders (note 1) has been modified by man into a temple cave with walls covered with black & white tiles arranged in a chessboard pattern. What remains of the original rock face is now found painted with dark graphite coloured enamel. Veneration is focused on a hump-shaped lingam (28 cm high and about 35 cm in diameter) rising from the centre of a slightly inclined yoni carved from one and the same boulder sunken into the sanctuary's man-made floor of banded, light grey coloured marble slabs. A hooded brass cobra, standing on its coiled up tail, shelters the lingam. Adjacent to it, and put up in the back of a low plinth, are statues of Nandi (sandstone), Ganesha (white marble), and others illuminated by oil lamps, an electric tube and energy-saving bulbs. Also installed is a metal box for donations in ready cash and a heavily soiled, dark grey coloured and grimy soot laden electric fan. CULTURAL HISTORY: During Shivaratri festival (note 2) offerings of bel (tree leaves) and dhatura (a kind of thornapple, Solanaceae: Datura fastuosa) are made and bhang (preparations of hemp; Cannabis sativa) is taken.
NOTE 1: SHRIVASTAVA (1997: 32-33) obviously was never anywhere near the cave which he describes as »… long and narrow cavity in basalt structure.« Two of Shrivastave's seven words are not entirely out of place: 'and' and 'in'. SHRIVASTAVA (1997) does not acknowledge his source of information but appears to place the cave after HIRA LAL (1988) near the energy complex of the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board (which actually lies more than a kilometer away), and provides interesting but baseless and untenable information: »The level of the cave is a few steps down from the surface. A mineral water spring was located near the caves. Now the spring water has dried up. An idol of Lord Shiva is enshrined in the cave. It is said that the shivling is a natural creation. It is a raised, elongated dome - shaped basalt structure.« NOTE 2: Shivaratri, on occasion of the first full moon after the spring equinox in the lunar month of Phalgun (February / March), is when Shiva dances the tandava (cosmic victory dance).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | MADAN MAHAL | ||
| 6.2 | GUWARIGHAT | ||
| 12.2 | Marble Rocks | ||
| 12.2 | Chausat Yogini Mandir Tunnel | ||
| 17.5 | KALI CAVE, Jabalpur - Bedaghat | ||
| 61.7 | RUPNATH GUMPHA, Jabalpur - Bahuriband | ||
| 84.4 | JHINJHARI SHELTERS | ||
| 129.2 | BADI GUFA, Bandhavgarh | ||
| 130.0 | BANDHAVGHAR BAT CAVE (Caves at) |