NELA BILAM, Belum village
15.111900,78.127500
Description
Flights of steps made from slabs of Narji Limestone descend down into a step-well and a small pond (January 1982, December 1983), which is renowned as an almost perennial source of water (note 1) and known to be fed by a phreatic (flooded) cave »full of water in the lower passages« (FOOT 1885: 235). ETYMOLOGY: Little doubt remains that this karst spring is the cause of why the village of Belum came into existence at this spot and the name of the village is due to the little cave. SITUATION: The karst rising lies in the north-eastern corner of the village of Belum, which itself lies about 500 m west of the road from Banaganapalle (N15°18'30”: E078°13'30” Everest 1830) south via Tadpatri (N14°54'30”: E078°01'), pronounced Tarpatri, towards Anantapur (N14°41': E077°36'). POSITION: The Survey of India 57-I/04 (edition 1983) indicates this karst spring near (±50 m) N15°06'43”: E078°07'39” (Everest 1830). DAR, PERRIN et al. (2011.02.02 Mss) position both »Belum Karst Spring« (table 1: C2) and »Belum Spring« (table 2: S1) near (unspecified precision error) N15°06'47.2”: E078°07'30.0” (unidentified geodetic datum possibly Everest 1830). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1: The karst spring and it's cave was first recorded by Lieutenant Henry Bruce Foote and his son Robert Bruce (FOOTE 1885: 235) as »a little cave in the centre of the village of Billam, in Banaganpalli State, and exposed at the bottom of a well … full of water …« CAVE DESCRIPTION 2: At the head of a very shallow, hardly recogniseable and dry streambed or overflow channel lies a closed depression, probably representing a solutional doline, which has been modified by man with the help of rectangular limestone slabs into a stepwell of rectangular ground plan, 4.6 m wide and about 10 or 12 m long. The orifice is enclosed on three sides by up to 6 m high walls and on the fourth by a flight of steps which descend from a potential overflow channel to the approximately 1 or 1.5 m large natural opening in the exposed Narji Limestone. The water resurges from what appears to be a horizontal cave (note 1) which, till the 1990ies, was almost always flooded. In winter 2003/2004 DUBOIS (2004: 11) took a photograph of the stepwell showing ten hoses of electrical water-pumps laid into the now yawning entrance (note 2).The water table is at its lowest in the month of May but every once in a while the resurgence overflows during the rainy season (June, July and August). During extreme dry spells, which, according to local informants, happen about two or three times in a century, the water receedes far enough to force the villagers into the cave to fetch their drinking water. This happened in 1936, 1946 and 1981. An extreme draught was said to have occurred in May 1946 when Karanam M. Prabhuramarao, then village headman of Belum, had some 65 m of horizontal cave passage surveyed (note 3) with the help of a metal chain (length: 20.117 m corresponding to 4 rods of 5.5 yards) and estimated another 100 m to a chamber were ancient pottery (clay vessels) were found.
NOTE 1: »S-1 Belum Spring 78°07'30.0” 15°06'47.2” Narji lim. Min. discharge 0 l/s, maximum 50 l/s, Electrical Cond. 674.6 S/cm« (DAR, PERRIN et al. 2011.02.02 Mss table 2). Local tradition links the fluctuations in level of the water-table of this well to that in –>Belum Guhalu (some 2 km away) and legend has it that the so-called »Patal Ganga« (literally: Underworld River), a trickle of water that collects in a small pond in Belum Guhalu, resurfaces in the well of Bellum village. NOTE 2: »Au niveau du sol sur un des murs de l'enceinte sont placées à demeure une dizaine des de pompes électriques d'où sortent les tuyaux plongeants dans l'eau« (DUBOIS 2004: 11). NOTE 3: A different cave surveyor was reported to KAMATH (2003): »During dry seasons, the water recedes in the well and people are forced to enter the cave … During one such occurrence in 1946, the village headman, B. Aftalla Reddy, documented the cave for the first time.« The Reddys of this area, however, are honourable landowners and exclusively hold lucrative or respectable jobs --none would muddy his feet or even bend to stoop into a dark underground. It seems to be more likely that Shri B. Aftalla Reddy (KAMNATH 2003), village headman of Belum, ordered somebody (e.g. Mr. Karanam Mr. Prabhuramarao) to survey the cave.
Documents
Bibliography 27/04/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1884: December: Lieutenant Henry Bruce Foote and his son Robert Bruce visited »… a little cave in the centre of the village of Billam [sic!] … and exposed at the bottom of a well« (FOOTE, R B 1885: 235). 1946 May: Karanam M. Prabhuramarao (ordered? by B. Aftalla Reddy, then Belum Village Headman) surveyed the normally flooded cave during an extreme dry spell (Ramasubhba Reddy, B.A. B.Ed., Zilla Parishad School, Koilimikuntla, 1983 personal communication). GEBAUER & ABELE (1983d: 33-34) erroneously report K. Malla Reddy as the surveyor but he only copied the original cave plan which was not shown to the foreign visitors. 1981, 1983: H. D. Gebauer and friends repeatedly observed village women fetching water from the drowned cave with the help of about 20 or 25 liter large ceramic and synthetic containers. 2003/2004: Albert DUBOIS (2004: 11) counted ten water pipes and motorized pumps drawing water from the accessible cave but did not enter due to a religious impediment which forced him to suffer wearing shoes even in broad public: »Il est strictement interdit d'utiliser l'escalier avec les pieds chaussés, sous peine d'être hué par d'éventuels témoins, l'approche de l'eau se fait uniquement les pieds nus.« 2010.01.05: Jerome Perrin (2010.02.02 Mss) observed on »05 Jan 2010 … Belum village seasonal spring is dry.«
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.6 | Belum Caves | ||
| 2.0 | BELUM GUHALU | ||
| 2.8 | CHIRUTIPULLI - VEEPAMANI GUHALU | ||
| 9.2 | ALAGAR CAVERN, Kidampatti | ||
| 9.5 | NELA BILAM, Cherlopalle, 2nd | ||
| 9.7 | KIDARIPATTI (Cave at) | ||
| 9.8 | UPPALAPADDE TALUS CAVE | ||
| 9.8 | NELA BILAM, Cherlopalle, 1st | ||
| 11.9 | GOLLALERU UNDERCUT |