KURUVA BALI GAVI
15.149700,77.818300
Description
A relatively deep pothole cave associated with Bali (note 1) is suspected to have been used in former times as a sacrifice pit. ETYMOLOGY: The Telugu "kuruva" is a herdsman. Respected local communicators translated the cave name "Kuruva Bali Gavi" officially into »Cave of Shepherd Bali« (1984.01.23). An alternative, politically less correct translation could be »Bali Cave of the Shepherds« or, as the Sanskrit verb "bali" means »to cut, to sacrifice« (animals, humans), »Shepherds' Sacrifice Cave«. POSITION 2011: N15°09'00.2”: E077°49'04.8” (unspecified precision error, unidentified geodetic datum, 12-channel GPS, DAR, PERRIN et al. 2011.02.02 Mss: table 1, item C-7). POSITION 1996: N15°08'59”: E077°49'06” (±140 m): 440 m asl (WGS84, Gebauer 1994 January, 4-channel GPS Garmin 12). SITUATION: About 10 km in a direct line north of Rayalacheruvu / Rayalcheruvu (note 2) and a little less approximately south-east of Pyapulli (note 3), the entrance to Kuruva Bali Gavi lies on Regudisema Konda, a hill which can be reached either from the village of A) Lakshmanpalle / Lakshumpalli (note 4) by travelling about 4 km north, or from B) Boyapalle / Boyavandlapalli (note 5), from where one has to proceed about 0.5 km south-west along the valley floor and then climb up a seasonally grass covered slope to reach the inconspicuous entrance, which is difficult to find without the help of a guide, and lies less than 100 m east of a not very spectacular ravine or about 30 m vertically above the level of the peanut fields covering the valley floor. CAVE DESCRIPTION: This is not an easy cave to visit and not recommended for beginners. Vertical gear is advisable especially the second drop, which is altogether 25 m deep and may turn into a trap as the loaded rope tends to be wedged between a hanging boulder and the cave wall. The inconspicuous entrance (less than 2 m wide and 1 m high) leads to a tiny entrance chamber, which slants to the south-east to a 2 m-climb down into a 6 to 7 m wide, steeply descending passage with a bunch of fine stalagmites (speleothems) below beautiful white flags on the high ceiling 20 m down the slope. Both to the left and right of a stalagmite boss in the centre of the passage, the following 8 m drop (P8) is reached. A low lead at the bottom of the northern wall remained unsearched but the main passage continues descending steeply for another 15 m. A branch goes off to the right (south) which is undescended but believed to certainly join the straight way on which provides a wedged boulder providing an excellent belay. At 9 m below the belay boulder (P9) a convenient bridge is reached. To the north of the bridge a straight drop of 10 m (P10) can be deviated by traversing to the south-west of the bridge into a cleft leading to the top of a scree slope. Eleven vertical metres below the bridge (P11), the scree slope sinks into the floor of an up to 8 m wide and about 20 m high, straight and horizontal walking passage. At 70 m "The Stroll" apparently comes to a sudden end. A 2 m climb leads to a smaller, 2.5 m wide continuation of the joint-controlled passage but soon reaches an overhanging drop where a 10 m rope or ladder is required: undescended! At the apparent end of The Stroll a low but broad passage enters from the north-west. A few metres in, the ceiling rises to at least 10 m at a vaulted dome and becomes lower again but the passage remains at least 3 m wide and reaches a slope of fallen boulders which paves the access to a right hand bend of the main passage to the ENE. To the left (south-west) the slope of fallen boulders continues continues ascending and soon an impressive flowstone formation bars the way on: unclimbed! To the right (north-east) a narrow rift soon widens and leads into spacious cave with the ceiling out of reach for small carbide lamps. At 120 m beyond the last bend, the terminal chamber is furnished with a pool at -77.3 m below the entrance: Stalactites all over. And finally a refreshing bath in the 31.8°C cold pool. CAVE POTENTIAL: : Unexplored remained (1st) a low crawl at the bottom of P8 at the foot of the northern wall. (2nd) A 10 m descend at the left hand turn of the main passage. (3rd) A climb at the right hand bend of the main passage. (4th) A ridge-walk for another entrance above the 3rd unexplored lead. CULTURAL HISTORY: It is difficult to judge if the cave actually was (or still is) used as a sacrifice pit. No animal remains were observed at the bottom of the pothole but the extreme cave temperature and humidity guarantees a fast process of decomposition while porcupines -relatively numerous in the area- are known to relish bones. At the current writer's first visit (1984) to Boyavandlapalle village a battle broke --officially ascribed to drunkards-- after nightfall between so-called "sections". At the second visit (1996), nobody of the villagers had any objections whatsoever. CAVE CLIMATE - temperature: Kuruva Bali Gavi was the hottest cave I entered in Andhra Pradesh. The temperature of the cave air in winter (January 1984) was ranging between 31.2°C near the entrance and 32.2°C in the water of the terminal pool. In December 1996 the air in the entrance had again about 31°C.
NOTE 1: Bali is the Vedic ruler of the underworld, or king of demons, who, however, is diametrically opposed to the Christian view of a wilful, rebellious Satan: »The virtuous king Bali [is a] legendary conqueror of Indra and the other gods. The Vedic gods, like their Teutonic counterparts, were seldom adverse to subterfuge to gain the upper hand, and prevailed on Vishnu to save their supremacy. Vishnu manifested himself as a dwarf and craved from Bali just as much ground as he could span in three steps. The Great Bali, master of heaven, earth, and the depths below, lacked divine subtlety and conceded to this request, whereupon Vishnu bestrode heaven in his first step, earth in his second but, in defence to Bali's goodness and his father Pralada's devotion to Vishnu, accorded Mahabali the lower regions« (WARD 1993: 34). The Sanskrit word "bali" (verb: to cut) is also an offering of blood in which helpless animals, usually kids, are (annually) decapitated. In some cases, life is offered without shedding blood, when the practice is adopted of pummelling with the fists the animal to death. At other times blood only is offered without injury to life. These practices, however, are not considered as orthodox, when the more pure Bali consists of edible grains with milk and sugar (WILSON 1832: 219). The Bali practices attributed to the adorers of Shakti which are considered impure even by the Right Hand Form of worship (KASINATH: Dakshinachara Tantra). NOTE 2: Rayalacheruvu N15°08'40”: E77°49'15” (Everest 1830) on Survey of India sheet 57-E/16 (edition 1977) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 101 B3). NOTE 3: Pyapali / Pyapalle N15°14': E77°44' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) is indicated as »Pyapali« not only on Survey of India sheet 57-E/12 (edition 1980) but also on AMS sheet ND43-04 Bellary (U502 series, 1961 edition) and on India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 108 A2) on the National Highway NH7 at road distances of 23 km approximately south-west fron Dhone (N15°25': E77°53') and 21 km north-east from Gooty (N15°07': E77°38'). NOTE 4: Lakshmanpalle (local communicators, 1996) or Lakshumpalli N15°06'55”: E77°49'11” (Everest 1830) on Survey of India sheet 57-E/16 (edition 1977) lies about 7 km along the road north of Rayalacheruvu (N15°08'40”: E77°49'15” Everest 1830). NOTE 5: Boyavandlapalli N15°08'40”: E77°19'15” (Everest 1830, Survey of India 57-E/16 edition 1977) lies about 4 km from Pasumanpalle, the »Payasamrangareddipalle (Narayanapuram)« on Survey of India 57-E/16 (edition 1977), which lies about 15 km along the road north of Rayala Cheruvu. Compare –>Panchalingalaswami Guha. NOTE 6: Acknowledgements: The Boyavandlapalle village headman B. V. Kambaiah organised knowledgeable guides, impromptu accommodation, disputable ropes and a much appreciated wooden ladder but was shocked when offered payment. The villagers Kotappa Uraf Chinnaiah and A. Sunkanna turned into excellent instant cavers while Ramaswami Reddy from Belum stepped out of his way for days in a row to please what must have been a mad German cave mapping hippie.
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1984.01.23: Kotappa Uraf Chinnaiah, A. Sunkanna, Ramaswami Reddy and H. D. Gebauer descended with a collection of tied up pieces of hemp rope collected from a number of households at Boyavandlapalle. Having surveyed the cave, the explorers got stranded at the bottom of the 9m-drop at -60 m when trying to negotiate the overhang hand over hand. The team was rescued by the villagers with the help of the longest available but still too short ladder (note 6). 1996: During the "Kurnool '96" excursion, the entrance was visited once more to take a GPS-reading and measure the air temperture.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.6 | PANCHALINGALASWAMI GUHA, Pasumanpalli | ||
| 4.2 | GOPAMA GAVI | ||
| 5.1 | LANGU GAVI | ||
| 7.1 | CHANDRAPALLE CAVE | ||
| 9.7 | Kona Rameshvaram Daddi Guha | ||
| 10.8 | MUNAGAMANU GAVI | ||
| 12.3 | JUVVIMANI GAVI | ||
| 15.7 | KAMBHAGIRISWAMI HOLE | ||
| 20.2 | GOOTY CAVERN (Newbold 1845) |