MAHADANI DEO, Marcha Hill (Cave of)
23.116700,83.200000
Description
A temple cave of dubious nature and unknown dimensions (note 1), which is sacred to a »male deity called Mahadani Deo« reports DRAKE BROCKMANN (1911, 27: 103) from a certain »Marcha hill« (note 2) at an unspecified location somewhere in »Sarguja« or Surguja (note 3). Compare the cave on –>Banka Hill and the –>Kanhar deep water hole. CULTURAL HISTORY: DRAKE BROCKMANN (1911, 27: 103) was led to believe that in the noted cave on Banka hill »lives a demon of the Dano species. Her name is unknown, but she brings pain and desease and is of a very violent temper.« GLENNIE (1959: 32): »Eastern States: Sarguja State … In Sarguja, there are two noted caves, one on the Marcha and the other on the Banka hill. In the former lives a male deity called Mahadani Deo, and in the latter a demon of the Dano species. Her name is unknown, but she brings pain and disease and is of a very violent temper (Dist.Gaz. of U.P. XXVII, p.103.)«CRAVEN (1969: 26) has the »Sarguja area« still in Madhya Pradesh and confuses the name of the demon with the demon itself: »Drake Brockman (1911) noticed two more caves in this area: One on the Marcha Hill and the other on the Banka. The Marcha Cave contains Mahadani Deo, a male deity; and the Banka Cave contains an unknown demon of the Dano species.« JUBERTHIE et al. (2001: 1786): »Inde Central, Etat de Maharashtra … Dans la région d'Ambikapur, une rivière souterraine [note 4] et deux grottes sont signalées (GLENNIE, 1959), dans l'une vit un divinité appelée Mahadani Deo, et dans l'autre un Démon de l'espèce "Dano".«
NOTE 1: »In a stream called Sukandar, a tributary to the Kanhar, on the Sarguja boundary, there is a deep water-hole supposed to be of unknown depth. In the middle of this is a mound on which grows a kurlu tree. When ghosts become troublesome, the Ojha searches for a piece of deer horn in the jungle: This he hammers with a stone into the tree, and thus shuts oup the ghost. There is another river named the Kurso in Sarguja which is also infested by water ghosts; and to these the Baiga does sacrifice that there may be good rain, productive harvests, and that epidemies may not visit the village. In Sarguja, there are two noted caves, one on the Marcha and the other on the Banka hill. In the former lives a male deity called Mahadani Deo, and in the latter a demon of the Dano species. Her name is unknown, but she brings pain and disease and is of a very violent temper« (DRAKE BROCKMANN 1911: District Gazetteer of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.- Volume 27: Mirzapur.- page 103) NOTE 2: »Marcha hill« (DRAKE BROCKMANN 1911, 27: 103; GLENNIE 1959: 32) is not identified unless it corresponds to the »pat« (flat-topped, laterite capped hill) north of Murhi (23°05': 83°35') from where DEY (1983: 47-48) reports some 60,00 tons of bauxite ore occurring in the middle of the plateau as »segregations of aluminous material in the normal laterite.« NOTE 3: The »Feudatory State Sarguja« (now Surguja district, Chhattisgarh state; also: Sirgoojah, Sirguja) lies between N22°38' to N24°06' and E082°31' to 84°05' (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 23: 170) and falls on the Survey of India sheets 63-P/08, 64-I, 64-J, 64-M and 64-N. The headquarters are at Ambikapur (also: Surguja, Sarguja, Sirgoojah, Sirguja) are positioned at N23°07': E083°12' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) on AMS sheet NF44-04 Ambikapur (U502 series, 1962 edition) and on the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 74 C1). NOTE 4: Needless to say JUBERTHIE et al. (2001: 1786) mislead also here with stating that »(GLENNIE, 1959)« indicated an underground river when GLENNIE (1959: 32) actually refers to »Rec.Geol. Surv. of India. VI. p.34« where BALL (1873a: 34) narrates how »a flock of blue pigeons suddenly rising out of a hole near the road« drew his attention not to a river but to »the stream east of Khargaona« which »passes underground for some distance, E.N.E. of the village.«
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20.4 | KHARGAWAN (Cave near) | ||
| 35.4 | HATHIPOL, Sarguja | ||
| 35.4 | JOGIMARA | ||
| 35.4 | SITA BENGA / SITABENGA | ||
| 35.4 | HATHIPOL ROCK CHAMBER | ||
| 35.4 | LAKSHMAN BANGALA | ||
| 43.6 | KHURIA RANI (Felsenhöhle der) | ||
| 82.9 | SUKANDAR DEEP WATER-HOLE | ||
| 92.9 | BURADAN CAVES, Mara / Muri |