KALI KHOH, Mirzapur: Ashtabhuja: GUFA
25.155200,82.486500
Description
NOT SEEN: Singh, Rana P B (1997). A modified natural rock shelter, sacred to Bindhabasini, originally a "bloodthirsty" local goddess now considered as the compassionate Devi (Goddess) who was once here worshipped as Durga (note 1), one of the ten terrifying aspects of –>Kali. The shelter owes its origin to gravitational decay and has no karstological relevance (solutions forms are absent) but is noteworthy for the sacred geography and cultural history (–>Kali Khoh Mandir) of a cave site, however fabulous or discontinued, associated with animal and human (more likely: male) sacrifices (note 2). SITUATION: Indicated with the symbol for "temple" on Survey of India sheet 63-K/8 (edition 1973). Situated in the abrupt upper end of a glen cutting into the Mirzapur Hills north-east of the Kaimur Range (part of the Vindhya Mountains). The head of the Kali Khoh glen lies about 13 km along the road approximately south-west of Mirzapur (note 3), from where it is easiest reached by motor-riksha, scooter, taxi or mini-van. The nearest railway stations are Hanuman in Bindhachal town (note 4) and Birohi / Virohi (note 5), both on the Central Railway Line between Mughalsarai (12 km SE of Varanasi / Benares) and Jabalpur. Just across the hill (half an hour's walk, 1.5 km towards north-west) lies Ashtabhuja Devi Mandir (N25°09'45": E82°28'38" Everest 1830, Survey of India sheet 63-K/12, 1978 edition). GEOLOGICAL SITUATION: Captain James FRANKLIN (1829: 24-25, 42) had travelled between 24th and 26th November 1826 from Mirzapur via Lalganj (25°01'N: 82°22'E), »Barounda« (Baraundha 24°58'N: 82°17'E) and »Kattra« (not identified: Drummondganj?) across the »first range of hills« (the western part of the Mirzapur hills) and found it »composed entirely of sand-stone, horizontally stratified, consisting of fine grains of quartz, cemented by clay, and coloured more or less by the red oxide of iron; it is occasionally compact, but its general character is rather friable, than compact, and it sometimes contains galls of clay …; in many parts, it has sufficient cohension for architecture, and is quarried near to the Tára pass for that purpose. From the crest of the Tara pass [note 6] to the foot of the second range of hills [Rewa plateau] near Kattra [note 7], the whole tract is platform, varying only from a perfect level, by occasional protrusions of the rock, which forms small collines, and sometimes hills; this platform increases in elevation towards the south-west; in the part where I passed, except immediately on the crest of the hills, common kankar [calcareous caliche formations] is very prevalent, either intermixed with alluvium, or in beds, as in the channel, and on the banks of the Bailan nadí [Belan river] at Baronda [Baraundha 24°58'N: 82°17'E], where it appears to be indistinctly stratified — and contains fragments of sand-stone: this part of the range is not rich either in minerals or metals …« CAVE DESCRIPTION: From the right hand side of the road to –>Kali Khoh Mandir (some 200 m further south-east) lead a few irregular steps to the wide but low and shallow rock shelter (maximal 8 by 1.7 by 2.3 m). This is characterised –as can be seen from far away– by a generous application of bright orange coloured enamel paint (perhaps Pb3O4) to an east-south-east (about 125°) facing outcrop of the Vindhyan (Precambrian) sandstone. Most of this sandstone occurs in thin, sometimes cross-bedded and sub-horizontal layers with thicknesses varying from millimetres to a few centimetres. Here, however, three massive 0.6 to 0.8 m in thick strata outcrop of which the topmost functions as a ceiling while the two lower ones are locally scooped out. A wall encloses the shrine some 3 or 4 m above the road. A gate without lintel gives access to the interior and opens in front of the deepest part of the shelter, a niche (some 1.5 m wide, high and deep) above a platform raised by about 40 cm from a pavement of irregularly broken sandstone slabs. Here, two carved slabs with idols are put up (one depicting Durga, the other unidentified) in addition to three well rounded stones (the size of a child's head), all covered with bright orange coating. At the left hand side of this niche and in the upper part of the central sandstone band is the figure focussing the veneration. The figure protrudes from the native rock and appears to show a monstrous idol (about 50 cm high) with sort of tangled limbs –as in a frenzy of dancing. This alto relievo is clearly of natural origin and originates from some disturbance in the fluviatile sediment, apparently contemporary to its deposition. The figure has possibly been retouched at some stage and now (December 2000) is "beautified" with a glossy cover of orange colour and two tiny black dots serving for eyes. The northern half of the shelter (on the right hand side of the central niche and the cave entrance gate) is a dark room, walled up to the ceiling and accessible by a small door (0.8 m wide, 1 m high). When I first arrived there was nobody around to ask for permission so I sneaked in immediately to search for passages leading. The Dark Room is low and dusty but offers no continuations. Having taken photographs I retreated into the open air and started sketching. A friendly old man appeared. We expressed our mutual respect and he immediately closed the door (sack cloth) to the Dark Room, which is apparently off limits. In December 2000 it contained a factory made door (lying flat on the ground: a sleeping place?), an old cardboard box (containing a blanket, clothes, personal belongings) and – at the base of the grown rock wall – eight well rounded boulders, about 15 cm in diameter (possibly representing Matrikas) and painted orange, in addition to an idol (unidentified) carved from a slab of sandstone, again painted with startling orange coloured enamel.
NOTE 1: Durga, literally "inaccessible", is »a form of Shiva's wife, Devi, a beautiful, fierce women riding a tiger; a major goddess of the Shakti sect« (LONELY PLANET, India 2005 glossary: 1107). NOTE 2: »Jasondhi, Karohla. A small caste of the Narsinghpur District, who were employed at the Gond and Maratha courts to sing the jas or hymns in praise of the chiefs. They may be considered as a branch of the Bhat caste, and some of them are said to be addicted to petty theft. Some Jasondhis, who are also known as Karohla, now wander about as religious mendicants, singing the praises of Devi. … They call on Devi, saying 'Maiji, Maiji Mata meri, kahe ko janam diya' or 'Mother, mother, why did you bring me into the world?' Women who have no children sometimes vow to dedicate their first-born son as a Karohla, and it is said that such children were bound to sacrifice themselves to the goddess on attaining manhood in one of three ways. Either they went to Benares and were cut in two by a sword, or else to Badrinarayan, a shrine on the summit of the Himalayas, where they were frozen to death, or to Dhaolagiri, where they threw themselves down from a rock, and one might occasionally escape death. Their melancholy refrain may thus be explained by the fate in store for them. The headquaters of the order is the shrine of the Bindhyachal Devi in the Vindhyan Hills« (RUSSEL 1916, 1). NOTE 3: Mirzapur 25°09'N: 82°35'E (town and headquarters of Mirzapur district), on Survey of India sheet 63-K/12, India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 40 A5), AMS sheet NG44-12 Banaras (U502 series, 1961 edition). NOTE 4: Bindhachal town = Hanuman Rail Station near 25°06'52”N: 82°33'38”E (Everest 1830, Survey of India sheet 63-K/12), lies about 2 km in a direct line north-east of Kali Koh. NOTE 5: Birohi / Virohi 25°06'52”N: 82°33'38”E (Everest 1830, Survey of India sheet 63-K/12) lies about 3 km in a direct line north-east of Kali Koh. NOTE 6: »Tanda pass« (FRANKLIN, J 1829: 24) is probably the ascent (25°05'00”N: 82°01'00”E Everest 1830, Survey of India sheet 63-K/12, edition 1978) above the left (east) bank of the Hattai Nadi about one or two kilometers north-west of the village of Tanda (25°12'30”N: 82°04'E Everest 1830, S.I. sheet 63-K/12, 2nd edition 1978) about 10 km or 12 km along the Great Deccan Road (National Highway 7) south-west from Mirzapur. NOTE 7: »Kattra« (FRANKLIN, J 1829: 42) is probably the small town of Katra 24°55'N: 081°41'E on the Panna Plateau (Panna Hills, part of the Vindhyan Ranges) shown on AMS sheet NG44-15 Rewa (U502 series, 1959 edition) and in the India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth 2006: 56 D1) on the National Highway NH 27. Not to be confused with Katra »section of populated place« (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003), a quarter of the city of Allahabad (25°27'N: 081°51'E in Uttar Pradesh) on AMS sheet (NG44-11 Allahabad, U502 series, 1961 edition), India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth (2006: 39 H4).
Documents
Bibliography 30/03/2016- Bhattacharya, Jogendra Nath 1896; Crooke, W 1894, 1896; Devi Mahatmya (circa 550 s.a. edited and translated by Agrawala, Vasudeva S 1963); Dowson, John 1879; Drake Brockmann, D L 1911: District Gazetteer of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh: Mirzapur; Franklin, James 1829; Gordon, Stewart N 1969; Hira Lal, Rai Bahadur 1921; Humes, Cynthia Ann 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996 / 1988, forthcoming 1996; Kinsley, David 1986, 1987; Lassen, Christian 1847-1861, 1867-1874, 1968; Löhndorff, Ernst F (a.i.); Sarkar, Sikha 2001; Singh, Rana P B 1997; Somadeva, s.a. circa 1100; Vakpatija circa 700 s.a.; Veeraswamy, Enugala 1830 / 1973; Wilson, Horace Hayman 1832.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.2 | KALI KHOH, Mirzapur: Ashtabhuja: MANDIR | ||
| 7.5 | SHANKARGARH (Cave at) | ||
| 9.8 | KHOH, Mirzapur | ||
| 14.3 | KHUSI GHAT KI PAHARI SHELTERS | ||
| 22.2 | KOTWA SHELTER | ||
| 41.7 | CHUNA DARI | ||
| 54.5 | KUPSA SHELTER | ||
| 55.7 | MATA GUFA | ||
| 55.7 | GYAN KUPOR WELL |