MACHHINDRANATH CAVE, Toranmal

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A modified natural and apparently sacred cave (temple cave), which has suffered disputable beautification to a degree ending up in a coating of blue coloured enamel, is advertised on Internet websites from the not exactly much frequented hill station (note 1) of Toranmal. Compare the –>Nagarjun rock temple. ETYMOLOGY: -torana- signifies an an architectural gateway (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 25: xxix) and has been identified as an architrave over a temple entrance (LONELY PLANET, India 2005: 1112) whilst -mal- may derive from -mahal- (house, residence, palace) or from -malai- (hill, mountain). On the other hand, there are two well-known stories that explain how Toranmal got its name. One version goes as that, it derived name from frequently occurring plant known by the name 'Torana' ( Zizyphus rugosa). By another story, the place is named after the goddess called by name -Torana- whose temple is located at the top of the hillock, which is worshipped by the local tribals. 'Mal*$ is the word used to hill (toranmal.info accessed 2007.12.17). SITUATION: Machindra Nath Cave (note 2) and Machhindranath Cave (note 3) or Machchhindranath Caves (note 4) is said to lies at a walking distance of 1.5 km from a road (note 5) or motorable track somewhere on the Chincholi plateau near Toranmal (note 6). maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/DHULIA/gen_ge… (accessed 2007.12.17) reports from Dhulia The principal hill ranges are the Satpudas, runing east-west, dividing the valleys of Tapi and Narmada. These include the plateau near Toranmal, called Chincholi, which is about 914 m above mean sea level and about 41 sqkm in area. Between Dhulia and Gujarat on the west is the northern extremity of the Sahyadri range. Spurs rise from the plain for the most part at right angle to the main ranges. The Arva and Galna hills divide Dhulia from Nasik. nandurbar.nic.in/.../toranmal%20main%20page.htm (accessed 2007.12.12) describes Toranmal as a soccer (saucer?) shaped platea covering an area of 41.43 square kilometres (read: 16 square miles) near N21°54': E74°27' to E74°30': 1036 m (3400 feet) asl in Satpuda Ranges in Akrani taluka of Nandurbar district, and places Toranmal at a travelling distance of 47 km along an unspecified route (approximately north) from Shahada city (note 7). GEOLOGY: maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/DHULIA/gen_ge… (accessed 2007.12.17) provides one Dhulia District Gazetteer, complete with a stratigraphy of the Geological formations met with in the district: Recent Alluvium Eocene Deccan Trap BasaltsCretaceous Bagh Beds Alluvium: The alluvium along the Tapi thins out westwards. It is not more than 50 m thick towards east, near Savalda. The soil derived from the trap is black cotton soil and is very fertile as it is rich in plant nutrients such as lime, magnesia, iron and alkalies. Trap Rocks: The close of the Mesozoic era was marked by the outpouring of voluminous lava flows which spread over vast areas. The fows are called 'traps' because of the steplike or terraced appearance of their outcrops, the term being of Scandinavian origin. The traps or the Deccan Basalts have plagioclase felspar labrodorife and pyroxene augite as the main minerals. They are grouped into vesicular and non-vesicular varieties. The amygdoloidal traps are characterised by vesicles filled with quarts, chalcedony and zeolites. A major part of the district is occupied by these trap flows. Contrary to the general rule in the case of the trap hills, the ridges lying west of Toranmal are rarely flat topped, and frequently extremely craggy. The traps of the hills along the northern boundary of the district have generally a low northerly dip, but it is not very regular. The traps of Toranmal itself are nearly horizontal. Spheroidal exfoliation is a characteristic feature of weathering in trap. It produces thin eon-centric shells or layers which become soft and fall off gradually, the weathering starting along well deveoped joints. The interior of the spheroidal masses however, remain quite fresh (note 8). South of Hamp or Hap, as in the hills north of the river Narmada, ash breccias are very abundant amongst the rocks exposed in the river section. Some of these rocks have evidently originally been pumice, the vesicles now being, in some cases at least, filled with agate. A few trap dykes occur in Akrani. Around Durgam, however, there are several parallel dykes of small size. They occur every 180 to 270 m and strike North 60-75 East. Some of these dykes are coarse grained and composed of felspar and granular greenish augite. Bagh Beds (Upper Cretaceous): The oldest geological formation met with in the north-western portion of the district are the Bagh Beds of upper Cretaceous age. They are conspicuously exposed on the banks of the Devaganga and its tributaries, along which sections of great thickness are seen. The hills east of the river, towards Attior Arithi, are entirely composed of sandstone, wih shale beds appearing at places near the summits. Here the thickness is more than 300 m. The beds have a quaversal dip, sloping away in every direction. The sandstones are much hardened and frequently cut up by dykes and large irregular intrusions of trap. East of Devaganga, near Surpan, a small area is occupied by the cretaceous beds, the top of the high range called Bawagupnyo (Bawangaja, N21°59': E074°51') being trap. Near Warwee or Vami, shale with limestone and oyster beds occur, and in the calcareous shale, just below the trap, on the western spur of Bawagupnyo hill, shark's teeth abound in calcareous (limestone) black rock, containing irregular siliceous masses. To the west, the Cretaceous rocks go beneath the traps, whereas the north and south boundaries are faulted. The eastern boundary shows an abruptly denuded termination, as if the lower lava flows had been consolidated against a preexisting sandstone cliff, which is apparent north of Babasiraj hill, where it is sudenly over-lapped by the trap. Looking westwards from the top of the Babasiraj hill, the general anticlinal feature of the rocks with an east-west axis may be inferred, the trap of the hills dipping to north and south. To the east of the hill, the rocks dip to the south and south-east, which explains the absence of cretaceous rocks in Akrani. Between the overlying Traps and the Bagh Beds there is a slight but distinct unconformity. DRAINAGE: The chief drainage system is river Tapi, entering at the south eastern corner of the district, flowing through a broad fertile plain in a westerly direction dividing the district into two unequal parts. The larger part lies in the south and is drained by the tributaries Bori, Panjhra, Buray, Amaravati and Siva. The tributaries of Tapi to north are Aner, Baler, Arunavati and Gomai. Towards north and west, the plain rises into difficult, rugged and quickly wooded country. During rainy season Tapi is not fordable. The river Narmada skirts the north-wet corner of the district. The tributaries of Narmada, in the district, are Udai and Khat draining the northern slopes of the Satpudas.GROUND WATER: The traps being massive and fine grained, are unsuitable for groundwater storage. It is through joints and fissures in them, that the rain water percolates and accumulates in the weathered portions which are the most reliable sources of groundwater in traps. However, the baked and/or highly vesicular portions between trap flows also provide passage or channel ways for percolating rain water. As it is un-economical to put down tubewells in these hard rocks, the alluvial tract of the Tapi was explored for groundwater utilisation during the All-India Exploratory Tubewell drilling programme. In all four boreholes were drilled at Torkhed, Jhiribeda, Taloda and Savalda. All the boreholes ended at shallow depth in trap, the deepest hole being at Savalda, where the alluvium is about 50 m thick. All the boreholes proved unproductive as no aquifer ws encountered. However, small scale groundwater development is possible around Taloda and Savalda. The quality of groundwater is suitable for irrigation. The content of dissolved solids and chlorides are low and the percentage of sodium, although a little high, is not likely to produce soil alkalinisation. The hardness mostly due to bicarbonates is not detrimental to soil or crops. To augment groundwater supply over trap country, the existing dug wells should be deepened and small diameter bores drilled from the bottom of the well. CAVE DESCRIPTION: A photograph image (without scale) on Internet websites appears to show a wide open, daylight-lit, and assymmetrically triangular cave entrance with overhanging walls (coated with blue coloured enamel paint), which soon leads to a smaller, dark continuation.t corner of the district. The tributaries of Narmada, in the district, are Udai and Khat draining the northern slopes of the Satpudas.GROUND WATER: The traps being massive and fine grained, are unsuitable for groundwater storage. It is through joints and fissures in them, that the rain water percolates and accumulates in the weathered portions which are the most reliable sources of groundwater in traps. However, the baked and/or highly vesicular portions between trap flows also provide passage or channel ways for percolating rain water. As it is un-economical to put down tubewells in these hard rocks, the alluvial tract of the Tapi was explored for groundwater utilisation during the All-India Exploratory Tubewell drilling programme. In all four boreholes were drilled at Torkhed, Jhiribeda, Taloda and Savalda. All the boreholes ended at shallow depth in trap, the deepest hole being at Savalda, where the alluvium is about 50 m thick. All the boreholes proved unproductive as no aquifer wt corner of the district. The tributaries of Narmada, in the district, are Udai and Khat draining the northern slopes of the Satpudas.GROUND WATER: The traps being massive and fine grained, are unsuitable for groundwater storage. It is through joints and fissures in them, that the rain water percolates and accumulates in the weathered portions which are the most reliable sources of groundwater in traps. However, the baked and/or highly vesicular portions between trap flows also provide passage or channel ways for percolating rain water. As it is un-economical to put down tubewells in these hard rocks, the alluvial tract of the Tapi was explored for groundwater utilisation during the All-India Exploratory Tubewell drilling programme. In all four boreholes were drilled at Torkhed, Jhiribeda, Taloda and Savalda. All the boreholes ended at shallow depth in trap, the deepest hole being at Savalda, where the alluvium is about 50 m thick. All the boreholes proved unproductive as no aquifer wt corner of the district. The tributaries of Narmada, in the district, are Udai and Khat draining the northern slopes of the Satpudas.GROUND WATER: The traps being massive and fine grained, are unsuitable for groundwater storage. It is through joints and fissures in them, that the rain water percolates and accumulates in the weathered portions which are the most reliable sources of groundwater in traps. However, the baked and/or highly vesicular portions between trap flows also provide passage or channel ways for percolating rain water. As it is un-economical to put down tubewells in these hard rocks, the alluvial tract of the Tapi was explored for groundwater utilisation during the All-India Exploratory Tubewell drilling programme. In all four boreholes were drilled at Torkhed, Jhiribeda, Taloda and Savalda. All the boreholes ended at shallow depth in trap, the deepest hole being at Savalda, where the alluvium is about 50 m thick. All the boreholes proved unproductive as no aquifer wt corner of the district. The tributaries of Narmada, in the district, are Udai and Khat draining the northern slopes of the Satpudas.GROUND WATER: The traps being massive and fine grained, are unsuitable for groundwater storage. It is through joints and fissures in them, that the rain water percolates and accumulates in the weathered portions which are the most reliable sources of groundwater in traps. However, the baked and/or highly vesicular portions between trap flows also provide passage or channel ways for percolating rain water. As it is un-economical to put down tubewells in these hard rocks, the alluvial tract of the Tapi was explored for groundwater utilisation during the All-India Exploratory Tubewell drilling programme. In all four boreholes were drilled at Torkhed, Jhiribeda, Taloda and Savalda. All the boreholes ended at shallow depth in trap, the deepest hole being at Savalda, where the alluvium is about 50 m thick. All the boreholes proved unproductive as no aquifer wt corner of the district. The tributaries of Narmada, in the district, are Udai and Khat draining the northern slopes of the Satpudas.GROUND WATER: The traps being massive and fine grained, are unsuitable for groundwater storage. It is through joints and fissures in them, that the rain water percolates and accumulates in the weathered portions which are the most reliable sources of groundwater in traps. However, the baked and/or highly vesicular portions between trap flows also provide passage or channel ways for percolating rain water. As it is un-economical to put down tubewells in these hard rocks, the alluvial tract of the Tapi was explored for groundwater utilisation during the All-India Exploratory Tubewell drilling programme. In all four boreholes were drilled at Torkhed, Jhiribeda, Taloda and Savalda. All the boreholes ended at shallow depth in trap, the deepest hole being at Savalda, where the alluvium is about 50 m thick. All the boreholes proved unproductive as no aquifer wt corner of the district. The tributaries of Narmada, in the district, are Udai and Khat draining the northern slopes of the Satpudas.GROUND WATER: The traps being massive and fine grained, are unsuitable for groundwater storage. It is through joints and fissures in them, that the rain water percolates and accumulates in the weathered portions which are the most reliable sources of groundwater in traps. However, the baked and/or highly vesicular portions between trap flows also provide passage or channel ways for percolating rain water. As it is un-economical to put down tubewells in these hard rocks, the alluvial tract of the Tapi was explored for groundwater utilisation during the All-India Exploratory Tubewell drilling programme. In all four boreholes were drilled at Torkhed, Jhiribeda, Taloda and Savalda. All the boreholes ended at shallow depth in trap, the deepest hole being at Savalda, where the alluvium is about 50 m thick. All the boreholes proved unproductive as no aquifer wt corner of the district. The tributaries of Narmada, in the district, are Udai and Khat draining the northern slopes of the Satpudas.GROUND WATER: The traps being massive and fine grained, are unsuitable for groundwater storage. It is through joints and fissures in them, that the rain water percolates and accumulates in the weathered portions which are the most reliable sources of groundwater in traps. However, the baked and/or highly vesicular portions between trap flows also provide passage or channel ways for percolating rain water. As it is un-economical to put down tubewells in these hard rocks, the alluvial tract of the Tapi was explored for groundwater utilisation during the All-India Exploratory Tubewell drilling programme. In all four boreholes were drilled at Torkhed, Jhiribeda, Taloda and Savalda. All the boreholes ended at shallow depth in trap, the deepest hole being at Savalda, where the alluvium is about 50 m thick. All the boreholes proved unproductive as no aquifer ws encountered. However, small scale groundwater development is possible around Taloda and Savalda. The quality of groundwater is suitable for irrigation. The content of dissolved solids and chlorides are low and the percentage of sodium, although a little high, is not likely to produce soil alkalinisation. The hardness mostly due to bicarbonates is not detrimental to soil or crops. To augment groundwater supply over trap country, the existing dug wells should be deepened and small diameter bores drilled from the bottom of the well. CAVE DESCRIPTION: A photograph image (without scale) on Internet websites appears to show a wide open, daylight-lit, and assymmetrically triangular cave entrance with overhanging walls (coated with blue coloured enamel paint), which soon leads to a smaller, dark continuation.