MONGGANG CAVE, Kebang

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

The humid cave was said to contain stalactites and stalagmites (speleothems) in addition to ground made up of limestone and silt and was not only interpreted as an elusive subterranean structure with a tunnel … to a vertical cave made of limestone and blue granite but also as an allegedly 300 m deep cave made of spectacular limestone and granite of yellow, blue and black hues and inhabited by large bats (CHOUDHURY, A 2008.04.07). SITUATION: The cave in the highlands of Monggang Ponrung (note 1) lies nearly 80 km from Pasighat (note 2) and twelve perilous hours from the village of Kebang (note 3) in a setting with the Hiyit stream, a tributary of Yembung [note 4], flowing nearby (CHOUDHURY, A 2008.04.07). APPROACH: The Monggang Ponrung cave is located on the picturesque Monggang hill ridge (about 1050 m from MSL) in the southern side of Kebang village. The cave belongs to Kebang, village laying between Pasighat and Aalo towns and a 3 (three) hours' drive from Pasighat. To go to the cve you have to divert through a kachcha road upstream Yembung river, a tributary of mighty Siang river, to Kebang (Sole) village just 3 km from Pasighat - Aalo [Along] road. From Kebang (Sole) village it will need another three hours of trekking up the Monggang hill [note 5] to reach the cave (Darang, T 2009.08.17 Mss). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2008: The allegedly 300 m deep cave [is] made of spectacular limestone and granite of yellow, blue and black hues and inhabited by large bats. … After a daylong arduous trek, the team stumbled on a tunnel that led them to a vertical cave made of limestone and blue granite. … After entering the cave, we found more than 40 chambers. Many of the chambers were as big as cinema halls with high roofs. In many places, the roof was decorated with beautifully sculpted figures, rocks and limestone structures. Much of the ground was made up of limestone and silt, making our progress difficult. The team spotted rock bridges, with water trickling down limestone rides that formed stalactites and stalagmites of various shapes (CHOUDHURY, A 2008.04.07). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2009.08.17: Although I am not expert in caving and geology, but from the little knowledge on the subject, I could make out that Monggang cave is very old and has all the characteristic features of a limestone cave system. There is a big depression around the cave and the rain waters of the upper hill fall into the vertical sinkhole in the form of water fall. The sinkhole is less than 2 m in diameter. On both the occasions, we went inside the cave all bare footed for easier sensing and better gripping. From the narrow entrance (sinkhole) we descended through a 3 m long wooden ladder. The first 30 m of the cave is narrow and vertical. We clambered down the narrow passage cautiously and maneuvered some dangerous points. In this portion, many deep cracks in the wall a multiple holes were found. We use a loop of Modi thread, with one end tied at the entrance, all along our journey insid to ensure not to lose track while retreating. Thereafter, the cave opens up into a series of large caverns with very high roofs, some of which are as big as large auditoriums. Here, numerous rock formations of magnificent sculptures painted in myriads of colours were seen. And floors becomes muddy and slippery and it slopes down at 35 to 45 degree with respect to vertical axis. As we descended further down, the going became more and more risky as rock pieces which peeled off from walls like slates were laying stacked loosely one above another on the floor. Then we heard shriek sounds of bats and in one of the high walls, hundreds of horse-shoe type bats were found hanging themselves upside down from rock wall which was indeed a spectacular sight. After sometime, we found a 4 m long magnificently sculpted Rock Bridge. Then in one corner of the passage, I discovered a point were water was dripping down from beautiful stalactites with ring marks. And on the ground, Shiva Lingha like salagmite bosses were found. This was the most beautiful and attractive point in the entire length of the cave we had covered. We have since christened it “Taduram Point”. It is almost 220 m from the entry point. Since the three coils of electric cables we had used could not reach this point, we used only torch light to see the various rock formations. Further movement down was not advisable, therefore we retreated from this point, although some members went down upto another 20 m (Darang, T. 2009.08.17 Mss). CULTURAL HISTORY - cave legends: An instant expert achieved rapidly to recall traditions of the Adi tribe, according to which the cave was the source of water for the first man and woman on earth. … Tiwary, a rock scientist with the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), who has spent more than 14 years in the North-east, … going by the size, shape and pattern of the kind of limestone that were found in the cave, it is clear that the cave is more than 6,000 years old (CHOUDHRY, A 2008.04.07). CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: The cave is a geologist’s and tourist’s paradise.The team has moved the state government to preserve the cave. -We have already contacted the authorities to take steps to preserve the cave and turn it into a tourist attraction- another member of the team said (CHOUDHURY, A 2008.04.07). To promote cave conservation by turning the site into a tourist attraction is obviously a not very smartly disguised intention to turn the site into profitable buisness generator. CAVE CLIMATE: Contrary to apprehension, we did not feel any breathing difficulties and tangible temperature variations even deep inside the cave. This suggests that we might have been very close to the resurgence of the cave (Darang, T. 2009.08.17 Mss). CAVE LIFE: … we heard shriek sounds of bats and in one of the high walls, hundreds of horse-shoe type bats were found hanging themselves upside down from rock wall which was indeed a spectacular sight … Only living creature otherthan the bats, found inside the cave were a few white millipedes [sic! millipeds, conf. Millipedes] running like trains in the moist walls of the cave (Darang, T. 2009.08.17 Mss). Keywords: Arthropoda: Tracheata: Myriapoda: Millipedes indet.. Mammalia: Chiroptera: conf. Hipposideros Gray 1831 aut Rhinolophidae Bell 1836: Rhinolophus Lacépède 1799.RY, A 2008.04.07). CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: The cave is a geologist’s and tourist’s paradise.The team has moved the state government to preserve the cave. -We have already contacted the authorities to take steps to preserve the cave and turn it into a tourist attraction- another member of the team said (CHOUDHURY, A 2008.04.07). To promote cave conservation by turning the site into a tourist attraction is obviously a not very smartly disguised intention to turn the site into profitable buisness generator. CAVE CLIMATE: Contrary to apprehension, we did not feel any breathing difficulties and tangible temperature variations even deep inside the cave. This suggests that we might have been very close to the resurgence of the cave (Darang, T. 2009.08.17 Mss). CAVE LIFE: … we heard shriek sounds of bats and in one of the high walls, hundreds of horse-shoe type bats were found hanging themselves upside down from rock wall which was indeed a spectacular sight … Only living creature otherthan the bats, found inside the cave were a few white millipedes [sic! millipeds, conf. Millipedes] running like trains in the moist walls of the cave (Darang, T. 2009.08.17 Mss). Keywords: Arthropoda: Tracheata: Myriapoda: Millipedes indet.. Mammalia: Chiroptera: conf. Hipposideros Gray 1831 aut Rhinolophidae Bell 1836: Rhinolophus Lacépède 1799.