MATAMPA (Grottes de)
22.200000,85.383300
Description
The so-called »grottes de Matampa« (Matampa caves) of Wilson R. LOURENÇO (1995: 847) are suspected to represent one single cave that may consist -- but this is mere guesswork — of a temple cave sacred to the Hindu goddess Matanga (note 1). Since the scorpioferous cave lies somewhere in the vicinity of Gua, it may be formed in laterite like the nearby cave at –>Noamundi (Naomundi), which PASCOE 1928: 74-75) reported from ferruginous lateritic material occuring near Jamda (Jamdam, Janda), a village about 6 km in a direct line south-east of Gua (note 2). SITUATION: LOURENÇO (1995: 847) places his »grottes de Matampa« not only in one interesting but unfortunately unheard of »Gua Atas region« but also misleads with providing the coordinates »22°12' N/85°23' E)« (read: N22°12': E85°23' ignored horizontal precision error ±15.578 km, unspecified geodetic datum), which do NOT position the cave but the miners' settlement of Gua, which lies in the district of Pashchi Singhbhum (ex West Singhbhum), Jharkhand state (ex- Bihar), and close to the Orissa border in the southern part of the Chhota Nagpur region (Chotanagpur, upper Nagpur). CAVE LIFE: »Matampa caves« (LOURENÇO 1995) yielded a blind, eye-less, troglobiont scorpion and hence is the type location (note 3) of the 14th known anophtalmous (eyless, blind) troglobiont scorpion Chaerilus sabinae (Scorpiones Chaerilidae), which LOURENÇO (1995: 847) described from »grottes de Matampa … région de Gua Atas (22°12' N/85°23' E), Inde, leg. Mards, 12/VIII/1985 (Muséum d'histoire naturelle, Genève).«
NOTE 1: The Matangas (literally: elephants) were native tribes who evolved as a caste long before the end of the Vedic period (Jha, V. (1970: 1-3): Varnasamkara in the Dharma Sutras: Theory and practice.- Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 13). They may have worshipped the elephant. As the Matangas were looked down upon, this could be the reason why the elephant is not mentioned in the pre-Christian sacred literature (Thapan, Anita Raina (1992: 33): The cult of the sacred elephant.- Social Science Probings (People's Publishing House), vol. 9, nos. 1-4). Much later, however, The Matsya Purana mentions a goddess called Matangi, who was the tutelary deity and consort of the elephant deity of the Matanga tribe (Agrawala (1970: 21-23): Ancient Indian folk cults.- Varanasi). NOTE 2: The mining town »Gua« N22°12': E85°23' (nima.mil/geonames/> accessed 16.11.2003) is not listed in the IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 12: 345) but indicated »Gua« on the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 76 A3) and on AMS sheet NF45-05 Sundergarh (U502 series, 1962 edition) about 5 or 6 km in a direct line north-west of the road head Jamda (N22°11': E85°26') and at the head of a railway side branch (lee line) at elevations around 1600 feet (290 ±30 m asl) south-east and some 500 vertical metres below the hill »Rauori Buru 2695« (821.45 m asl). NOTE 3: A »type location« is the location or collection point of a specimen from which a plant, animal or rock type was first described.
Documents
Bibliography 24/04/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1985.08.12: One Mr. Mards, associated with the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle (Genève / Geneva / Genf), collected a blind, eye-less scorpion (LOURENÇO 1995: 847). 1995: Wilson R. LOURENÇO (1995) described the immature holotype of Chaerilus sabinae, the 14th known anophtalmous troglobiont scorpion.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | Gua | ||
| 10.2 | NOAMUNDI | ||
| 86.2 | GOPINATHPUR (Caves at) | ||
| 106.1 | RANGAMATIA HILL (Cave on) | ||
| 107.0 | BAGH GHARA, Ichinda | ||
| 169.6 | LALJAL (Cave near) | ||
| 173.5 | KHATRA (Caves at) | ||
| 186.1 | BARSO PANI CAVE | ||
| 200.5 | KOH BARA / KOHBARA |