MAW RANG KHNAI SAW 1, upper (Krem)
25.247800,91.311200
Description
Two cave entrances (note 1) give access to the upper Cave at the Red Biceps' Rock, which ALLISON KOSIOR (2004a: 265) identified as »a cute cave that makes of lot of fun« but otherwise remains in the dark. ETYMOLOGY: The recorded cave name "Krem Maw Rang Naisaw" obviously stands for "Krem Maw Rang Khnai Saw" and means »Cave [of the] Rock [of the] Male Hill Mouse« (note 2) but the cavers of the 2000 excursion arrived at a bizarre »Stony Bachelor Red Mouse Cave« (note 3). SITUATION: Somewhere in the vicinity of Maw 'Rang Khnai Saw, a landmark on Lum Iawpaw, the hill above the village of Nongnah (N25°15'57”: E091°19'33”WGS84). CAVE DESCRIPTION: Allison Kosior (2000 Mss "group.doc" diary) noticed how the »… cute Krem (cave) maw rang naisaw … was a lot of fun, not too big or technical, very easy and the perfect temperature.« ALLISON KOSIOR (2004a: 265) confirms: »The first day, together with Stan Allison and Mike Zawada, I went for a few hours inside a cute Krem (cave), Maw Rang Naisaw. We explored all good looking leads.« CAVE LIFE: »Big spiders [Arachnida: Aranea: conf. Sparassida: Heteropoda sp.], not much smaller frogs and bats (horse-shoe bats) didn't eat us [Chiroptera: Rhinolophus var?]. Little fish, crayfish [Crustacea: conf. Palaemonidae], etc. without colour [depigmented] made us happy« (Allison Kosior 2002 Mss: "group.doc" diary; ALLISON KOSIOR 2004a: 265).
NOTE 1: Positions, unspecified precision error, recorded by Scott Linn at some time in December 2002 with a Garmin Xtrex, a 12-channel GPS receiver (Zawada, W. "Mike" 21.04.2004 Mss, 24.04.2004 personal correspondence): K. Maw Rang Naisaw 1 (upper) entrance 1 N25°14'51.9": E091°18°40.3": 1045.1 m asl; K. Maw Rang Naisaw 1 (upper) entrance 2 N25°14'51.9": E091°18°39.3": 1037.6 m asl. NOTE 2: According to SINGH, N (1906), the Khasi "ka krem" is »a cave« (page 46), "u maw" is »a stone« (130), "u 'rang" is short for "u shynrang" or »a male« (169, 201), "ka khnâi" is »a mouse« but "u khnâi" is »the biceps« (34), and "saw" means »red [coloured]« (184) but "ka 'nai sáw" is a small kind of »a hill mouse« (138). NOTE 3: Zawada (21.04.2004 personal correspondence), WARREN (2004: 250), ALLISON KOSIOR (2004a: 265), Barbara Anne am Ende (deepcaves.net/India02/india02.htm accessed 15.05.2003).
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1997: Brian D. Kharpran Daly recorded 'no. 23: Krem Rang Naisaw' (Kharpran Daly 1997 personal correspondence). 2002.12.11: W. "Mike" Zawada, Stan Allison and Gosia Kosior Allison, most likely lead by one or several unidentified guides, explored and mapped (26 survey stations, using backsights) an accumulated passage length of 172.6 m at a vertical range of 17.1 m (Kosior, Gosia Allison 2000 Mss "group.doc" = Diary 2002.12; WARREN 2004: 250; Mike Zawada 21.04.2004, 24.04.2004 personal correspondence).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | MAW RANG KHNAI SAW, 2nd, lower (Krem) | ||
| 0.2 | PHUD MAWIONG (Krem) | ||
| 0.6 | BANANA TREE SINK | ||
| 0.7 | PHUD KHONGPONG (Krem) | ||
| 1.1 | DITAR 3 (Krem U) | ||
| 1.1 | DITAR 2 (Krem U) | ||
| 1.1 | LUM IAWPAW PIT / CAVE 007 | ||
| 1.1 | LUM IAWPAW PIT / CAVE 006 | ||
| 1.3 | LUM IAWPAW PIT / CAVE 011 |