KHALING (Cave near)

Location

An about 1 m high, east-facing cave entrance forms a »lens-shaped hole decorated with Dzongka script written in ochre in a pleasantly-coloured orange limestone, clearly an ex-spring« (YONGE 1993: 18), gives access to a stooping- to crawl-sized, horizontal cave passage of phreatic origin which connects to the top of an about 4 m high cave chamber and a subsequent canyon passage that leads after a few tens of metres to a »profusion of phreatic tubes« (YONGE 1993). ETYMOLOGY: In spite of an unfortunately neither recorded nor deciphered »Dzongka script written in ochre« (YONGE 1993: 18) at the cave entrance, no autochthonous, indigenous or locally known name has been identified for what has been christened »Khaling Cave« (YONGE 1993) after a somehow nearby village. SITUATION: In an unspecified spatial relation »below the village of Khaling« (note 1), which is said to lie at a travelling distance of 35 km in an unspecified direction from Tashigang Dzong (note 2). YONGE (1993: 17 map) indicates the location of »Khaling« about 25 km or 30 km in a direct line approximately north-east from »Pemagatshel« (Pemagatsel Dzong), about 15 km or 20 km in a direct line due south from »Tashigang« (Tashigang Dzong N27°14': E091°34'), and close to the head of a nameless, westward flowing stream (Tanvi Chhu?). APPROACH: »Walking down-valley from Khaling village, one crosses several spring-fed streams before arriving after half-an-hour at a vegetated cliff face. The adage "caves are where you find them" is well served here. A well-hidden ramp cuts up the cliff face to arrive at a lens-shaped hole decorated with Dzongka script written in ochre in a pleasantly-coloured orange limestone, clearly an ex-spring. The entrance is perfectly invisible from the trail and the last place I would have expected to find it« (YONGE 1993: 18). CAVE DESCRIPTION: »The [entrance] passage is an almost horizontal phreatic tube with just a hint of a vadose trench. At the end of this passage lay a single burial cone [note 3] and a squeeze into a narrow fissure leading to a sizeable chamber. The chamber is roofed with a slaty rock, and passage descends through the limestone strata. We emerged from the fissure onto a large chockstone [choke stone?] from which the lower reaches could be accessed via a notched tree trunk, a descent of about 4 m. Entering a rift passage of about the same height, we found a karminnkongbu (butter lamp) on the soily floor« (YONGE 1993). CAVE POTENTIAL: »The rift ended in a profusion of phreatic tubes, one of which was extended with the use of a small boy on a later occasion. He reported this to split into two passages but was scared to continue« (YONGE 1993). CAVE LIFE (YONGE 1993): »On every visit to the cave we have seen a few largish bats [Chiroptera] roosting in the rift but these have yet to be identified.« Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 02/02/2016

NOTE 1: »Khaling« (YONGE 1993) is neither listed in IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 25: 292) nor in India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006 index) or shown on the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 28). NOTE 2: »Tashigang Dzong« (YONGE 1993) or »Tashigang« (STEIN 1988) and »Tashigong« (WHITE 1909) is indicated as »Tashigang Dzong (Bonkar) 3250 [feet]« near N27°14': E091°34': 3250 feet (961 m) asl on AMS sheet NG46-02 Towang (U502 series, 1961 edition) and as »Tashigang Dzong« on the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 28 C3). NOTE 3: »burial cone« (YONGE 1993: 18) or »tsha-tsha« (Tibetan) are relatively small, usually dove-egg to fist-sized models moulded in the form of a cone or a deity. Ordinary tsha tsha sometimes consecrate monuments in the village. Others, containing the ashes or powdered bones of the deceased, are taken from the village and set in various “clean places” (sa cha tshang ma), such as caves, grassy verges, streams and the branches of trees. Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 02/02/2016