AA CAVE, Khaddum (1999a)
25.175600,92.415300
Description
Two cave entrances (4 m wide by 5 m high, 8 m wide by 5 m high) pierce a limestone outcrop and form a true tunnel cave with a solitary, 12 m long and NW-SE aligned cave passage, which fallen boulders divide almost into two.ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous name has been identified for this animal's lair (note 1), which had been nicknamed "Hirsch Garage" (German) or "Hart Garage" (English) this establishment had been haunted by hart (note 2) or barking deer (note 3). SITUATION: At a linear distance of 5 km from the Soil Conservation Bungalow (in the north of Lumshnong) towards the south-east (110°). The cave is reached by a footpath which runs from the southern end of Lumshnong village to the hamlet Sielkan (±250 m 25°11'47”N: 92°27'12”E: ca. (±25 m) 480 m), and which follows the right (northern) bank of an unspecified stream joining (probably near ±500 m 25°10'20”N: 92°25'55”E) the Lunar river. APPROACH: To reach the entrance to this cave, leave Lumshnong proper (±250 m 25°10'46”N: 92°22'49”E) along the National Highway NH44 (connecting Shillong with Agartala 23°50'11”N: 91°16'30”E) towards Sonapur (25°06'45”N: 92°21'50”E). About a kilometre past the tea-stalls behind which the cave –>Umkhang - Kharasniang (±250 m 25°10'10”N: 92°22'50”E) lies hidden in the jungle (indicated as »Narpuh« on the Survey of India sheet, 1933 edition), leave the highway near 25°10'15”N: 92°23'42”E and follow a jungle path approximately east towards the hamlet of Sielkan (±250 m 25°11'47”N: 92°27'12”E: ca. (±25 m) 480 m). Strolling along this footpath for about half an hour (0.5 to 3 km), a limestone outcrop with two cave entrances rises from the jungle at a distance of 20 m in an unidentified direction from the path (Bäumler, G 1999.02.22 personal communication).
NOTE 1: Animal droppings, which had been ascribed to deer, led to the made-up name "Deer Garage Cave" as there is a similar, likewise carport.sized »Hirschgarage« in the Dead Mountains (Totes Gebirge, Nördliche Kalkalpen, Austria, Europe), where the invaders of this cave had spent caving hollidays. It may be worthwhile to draw attention of fetishists to the popular German custom of erecting chapel-sized structures called »Garage« which serve as cultspots for the veneration of auto- or egomobiles. This is not very interesting but strange to Asian people for whom a »garage« is a car repair shop. NOTE 2: u bthong (Khasi; noun, masculine) a hog deer (SINGH, N 1906: 15); buck (SINGH, N 1920: 55); hart, stag (BLAH, E 2007: 126, 285); Zoologically Cervidae: Cervus sp., in Hindi: parha (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 25: xxii). ka bthong kynthei (Khasi; noun, feminine) hind (BLAH, E 2007: 132). Glossary (Oxford Dictionary 2005). buck, the male of some antlered animals, esp. the fallow deer, roe deer, reindeer, and antelopes. hart, an adult male deer, esp. a red deer over five years old. hind, a female deer, esp. a red deer or sika in and after its third year (Oxford Dictionary 2005).hog deer, a short-legged heavily built deer having a yellow-brown coat with darker underparts, found in grasslands and paddy fields in Southeast Asia. stag, a male deer. NOTE 3: ka skei (Khasi; noun), abbreviated: ka 'kei (SINGH, N 1906: 23) a [female] barking red deer, a muntijac (SINGH, N 1906: 185); Zoologically Cervidae: Muntiacus (Oxford Dictionary 2005); Muntiacus muntjak; the barking red deer; Indian muntjac (MADHUSUDAN, M D circa 2005 s.a. Wildlife distribution and hunting, South Garo Hills.- online www.samrakshan.org accessed 2008.07.09).QUOTATION: »The Muntjac or Barking-Deer, Cervulus muntjac, a small kind, deep-chestnut in colour, the males bearing short horns on bony pedicals as long as the horns themselves or longer. This is an animal of hill forest, found in suitable places throughout India, Ceylon, and Burma, and on the slopes of the Himalaya up to 5'000 [1524 m] or 6'000 feet [1829 m]« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, i: 235-236).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.7 | UMTHLUH SUCUA (or so) (Krem) | ||
| 0.8 | MIH UM CAVE | ||
| 1.0 | UMHEH CAVE | ||
| 1.0 | OMOTHA (Krem) | ||
| 1.0 | SHRIEH, Brishyrnot (Krem) | ||
| 1.0 | SAHSNIANG, Brishyrnot (Krem) | ||
| 1.0 | LABIT, Brishyrnot (Krem) | ||
| 1.6 | LABIT, Lumshnong (Kyrshiu 2015) (Krem) | ||
| 1.7 | AA CAVE, Lumshnong (1999) |