DANTESHWARI, Dongargarh (Cave of)

(Dongargarh Tahsil - IN)
21.200000,80.733300
Grottocenter / carte

Description

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 27/03/2016

What possibly may consist of a natural, sacred cave or rock shelter (temple cave) is not only said (note 1) to be dedicated to a Hindu goddess identified as Kali »under the name of Danteswari or Mauli … where Meriah or human sacrifices used to be offered« (SMITH, G 1882: 341). ETYMOLOGY: danta (tooth) + ishvari or ishwari (goddess) as, for example, Kali, Durga or any other female shakti; the Supreme Spirit. Dantiwara SMITH, G (1882: 341) Danteswari SMITH, G (1882: 341) Denteswari SHRIVASTAVA, V K (1997) Maoli Mauli SMITH, G (1882: 341). SITUATION 1882: In what was then the »Bastar State« at the place called »Dantiwara, at confluence of the Sankani and Dankani« (SMITH, G 1882: 341). SITUATION 1997: At an inexplicable location (SHRIVASTAVA, V K 1997: 31-33) somewhere at (or in the vicinity of) the town of Dongargarh (note 2), which lies on the western rim of the Chhattisgarh basin (note 3) and not only at a travelling distances of 16 km along the road north-east from Chichola (note 4) but also on the SER (South Eastern Railway), about 100 or 110 km approximately west of Raipur (N22°05': E082°09'), and some 65 km west of Durg (Dooroog, Drug N21°11': E081°17'). CAVE DESCRIPTION: »Cave: Denteswari, Settlement: Dongargarh, God / goddess: goddess, Religion: Hindu, Rocks: Lime Stone, Character: Tribal, Classification: Religion, Tourism« (SHRIVASTAVA, V K 1997: 31-33). CULTURAL HISTORY: The goddess Danteshvari / Danteshwari / Denteshvari / Denteshwari (also: Maoli) is sacred to Gond people and there is sort of an image of her in about each and every village of the vast Chota Nagpur and Jaypur - Jagdalpur plateaus (ELLIOT, W 1854: 21ss, 1863: 3; HOLDICH, T H 1879: 379) if it is only inhabited by Gond people (RAHMANN, R 1936: 81). She is a female goddess or, to be precise, different forms of a female goddess nowadays identified by modern Hindu believers with Kali, and called Danteshvari after her famous sanctuary in the town of Danteshvara / Dantewara (N19°00': E081°20') in the centre of the triangle between the Bastar Hills (N19°15': E081°10'), Bailadila Hills (N18°43': E081°14') and the Dantewara Plateau (N18°55': E081°45'). CULTURAL HISTORY 1882: »Dantiwara, shrine of Kali, under the name of Danteswari or Mauli … where Meriah or human sacrifices used to be offered« (SMITH, G 1882: 341). CULTURAL HISTORY 1879: HOLDICH, T H (1879). CULTURAL HISTORY 1854: ELLIOT, W (1854).

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 27/03/2016

NOTE 1: The only reference to the "cave" dedicated to Denteshwari at Dongargarh, which I ever came across, is from the more often than not quick and easily convinced Prof. V K SHRIVASTAVA (1997), who tends to base concoctions on shattered scrap gleaned from disputable literary sources like tourist information leaflets. NOTE 2: Dongargarh N21°12': E080°44' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) or at N21°11': E080°46' (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 11: 368) is indicated on AMS sheet NF44-10 Gondia (U502 series, 1959 edition) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 86 A1). NOTE 3: According to MURTI (1987: 241), the sedimentary rocks deposited on the western margin of the Chhattisgarh basin are faulted against the Chilpi Group of metavolcanics and metasediments and granites. NOTE 4: Chichola (N21°04': E080°40') lies 39 km along the National Highway NH6 west of Raj Nandgaon (Rajnandgaon N21°06': E081°02').

Documents

Bibliography 27/03/2016
  • Elliott, Walter, 1854, 1863; Holdich, Thomas Hungerford 1879; Rahmann, Rudolf 1936; Shrivastava, V K 1997.

Caves nearby

Distance (km)NameLength (m)Depth (m)
54.4MANDHAR BOREHOLE CAVITIES
55.3MANDHIP KHOL, wet
55.5MANDHIP KHOL
93.4KHARUN KARSTIC RESURGENCE
94.3RAIPUR ARTESIAN SPRING
100.4BHATGAON BLEBBY CAVE
100.4BHATGAON BOREHOLE CAVES
114.4NAWAGAON SINKING, Mangalore River
126.6KHARORA ARTESIAN SPRING