MANGROL (Grotte de)
21.133300,70.116700
Description
A vertical entrance to an extensive stream cave with luke-warm water in the south-western part of the Saurashtra (Kathiawar) peninsula once has been reported (note 1) from a location 2 km in an unspecified direction from an unspecified spot in the town (nowadays inside the town?) of Mangrol (note 2) and 3.3 km from the shore of the Arabian Sea (note 3): »Having stripped to bathing trousers I descended the pit on shaky ladders in a poor state of repair and with flimsy and badly attached rungs. Having arrived at the bottom, I negotiated the greater part of my visit by walking in deep and lukewarm water (in April during the hot season) but for a short distance swimming was necessary. The underground passages, natural excavations from the rock, are remarkable and communicate with a spring of considerable flow used for irrigation« (note 4). CAVE LIFE: LINDBERG (1949a: 40, 45) collected numerous Harpacticoids but also Cyclopeds and other Crustacea. CHAPPUIS (1950) describes a solitary female Nitocra spinipes (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) collected by Dr. Knut Lindberg from »Caverne Mangrol.«
NOTE 1: »Dans la partie ouest de la péninsule de Kathiawar est située au bord de la mer la petite principauté de Mangrol, à capital du même nom ... La grotte est à environ 2 kilomètres de la ville et à 3 km 3 de la côte. On se dévêt, me et des caleçons de bain et on descend dans un puit sur des échelles branlantes en mauvais état (se méfier des barres pourries et mal attachées). Arrivée en bas, la plus grande partie de la visite de fait en marchant dans de l'eau tiède (en avril, saison de fortes chaleurs) assez profonde, mais sur un petite distance on ne peut avancer qu'en nageant. Les galleries souterrains, excavations naturelles dans le roc, assez remarquables, communiquent avec une source d'eau douce de débit considérable, dont on tire profit pour l'irrigation. J'ai recueilli plusieurs endroits dans l'eau de cette grotte d'assez nombreux Harpacticoïdes, mais aucun Cyclopide, ni autre Crustacé« (LINDBERG 1949a: 40). NOTE 2: IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 17: 180) identifies the seaport »Mangarol Bandar« with the Monoglossum of Ptolemy. The STC (State Transport Corporation) bus stand at Mangrol town is positioned near N21°07'16": E070°07'14" (WGS84, 4-channel Garmin, read on 1998.12.28). nima.mil/geonames (accessed 16.11.2003) positions Mangrol at N21°07': E070°07' (Lat. 21,1166667: Long. 70.1166667) and Mangrol Bandar at N21°07': E070°07' / Lat. 21,1166667: Long. 70.1166667' (WGS84).NOTE 3: Plotting Lindberg's distances on the 1: 250,00 scale AMS sheet Porbandar (NF42-11 edition 1956) I arrive at two points, which lie at linear distances of 3.3 km from the shoreline and 2 km (north and north-east) from Mangrol: a) N21°08'20": E070°06'50" (Everest 1830) and b) N21°07'40": E070°07'50" (Everest 1830). NOTE 4: CRAVEN (1969: 27) recorded »Lindberg (1949) visited a pothole, 2 kilometres from Mangrol and 3.3 kilometres from the coast. He descended a rotting ladder into a passage containing fresh water used for irrigation, through which he had to swim and wade.«
Documents
Bibliography 18/04/2016- Chappuis, Pierre-Alfred 1950; Craven, Stephen A 1969; Lindberg, Knut 1949a.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.9 | LABUR KUVA | ||
| 38.0 | SHIVA, Somnath (Cave of) | ||
| 50.6 | GHOJHARA KA BHOIRU | ||
| 56.9 | BHIMKUND, Girnar | ||
| 56.9 | KHAPARA KHODIA | ||
| 56.9 | NAVAGHAN KUVA | ||
| 65.8 | BUDDHIST CAVES | ||
| 70.5 | Dolatagadh Ka Bhoiru | ||
| 168.2 | BHOIRA KA BHOIRU |