MUNAGAMANU GAVI
15.153100,77.919200
Description
NOTE 1: Yadiki P.S. (police station) is indicated near (±100 m) N15°02'47”: E077°52'37”: 285 m asl (Everest 1830) on the Survey of India sheet 57-E/16 (edition 1977). NOTE 2: Kona Uppalapaddu (Kona Uppalapadde) P.O. (post office) near (±100 m) N15°06'01”: E077°53'49”: 305 m asl (Everest 1830, Survey of India 57-E/16 edition 1977). NOTE 3: Sri Kona Ramalingeswaraswami (temple) near (±100 m) N15°08'50”: E077°54'28”: 360 m asl (Everest 1830, Survey of India 57-E/16 edition 1977).
An about 6 m by 10 m wide and 6 m deep collapse doline is the only known cave entrance which gives access to a solitary, generally horizontal cave passage that drains as an underground stream course flowing from the approximate north towards south. Due to the relatively high air and water temperatures (about 31°C to 34°C) this rift cave is only partly explored. SITUATION: North of Yadiki (note 1), in the vicinity of Kona Uppalapaddu (note 2) and about 2 km on foot or 1.3 km in a direct line approximately ENE (1150 m east, 650 m north) of the Kona Ramalingeswaraswami (Sri Kona Ramalingeshwara Swami) temple (note 3) but some 140 m or 150 m higher up. POSITION 2010: Near (unspecified precision error) N15°09'11.2”: E077°55'09” (unidentified geodetic datum possibly Everest 1830, Dar, Perrin et al. 2011.02.02 Mss: table 1, item C-8). POSITION 1997: Near (±200 m) N15°09'10.0”: E077°56'10.0” (WGS84) corresponding to N15°09'05.5”: E077°56'14.3” (Everest 1830): circa (±50 m) 500 m asl (WGS84, Gebauer, H D 1996.12.19, 4-channel GPS Garmin 4). CAVE DESCRIPTION: The 6 m by 10 m wide, sub-vertical entrance lies in thorny jungle on the dry and barren plateau above Kona Rameshwaram. A debris slope on the south-eastern rim of the entrance allows an easy descent across the relics of a dilapidated flight of steps. About 6 m vertically down, the debris almost blocks a squeeze which gives access to the underground. A short horizontal passage continues at the level of the squeeze but a climbable 6 m-descend leads to the main cave. As far as known, the cave consists of a single, mostly joint controlled and horizontal passage which is 1 m to 6 m wide and 6 m to 12 m high. The general direction is from the south-east to the north-west. At a walking distance of about 50 m from the cave entrance, an unexplored, apparently tube-shaped cave passage below the ceiling appears to cross the main passage at right angles. At 80 m a solitary stalagmite boss (speleothem, venerated as a lingam) rests in the mud of the floor. At 250 m a few mud covered rimstone pools appear in the mud and a short distance further on a sparkling 4 m high rimstone barrier blocks the whole width of the passage. On the top of the barrier a series of gours (rimstone pools) provides drinking water and a much appreciated bath for the heavily sweating explorer. Descending 4 m on the other side of the barrier, the floor level is reached again but the passage turns from the north-west to the north. A couple of unpenetrable swallow holes are passed and 70 m beyond the first rimstone barrier a second one walls up the passage to a height of 4 m. At the top of the second barrier the passage turn abruptly to the right (south-east) and a comfortable walk down across convenient sized rimstone pools leads to a bend to the left hand-side and the cave passage swings back to a northerly to north-westerly direction and changes its character from a joint-controlled rift to a meandering canyon. At this point the 1983/84 mapping ended due to the excessive cave temperature. In 1996, altogether 79 survey stations were required to map 400 m of the meander which is decreasing in size. A point was reached, from where a low and dry tube continues to approximate north and the water arrives from the approximate north-east. CAVE POTENTIAL - Prospects: Near the northern end, a small section of an upper level was mapped but several continuations, both crawls and squeezes, remained unexplored. CAVE CLIMATE: Temperature in the water is nearly 31°C while the temperature of the cave air surpasses 34°C, at least during daytime and in the sections of higher elevation. To avoid peak temperatures, it is proposed to continue exploration during very early mornings in January. CAVE LIFE: GALLETTI, Iolanda (1998: 79, 83) noticed the presence of Italian inhabitants: »Orttotteri [Orthoptera?], »Raphidophoridi, Coleotteri [Coleoptera?] e Aracnidi Araneidi [Arachnida: Aranea]. In the water (31.7°C) were un-pigmented crustacea.
Documents
Bibliography 27/04/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1983.12.30: H. D. Gebauer and Claude Chabert commenced the survey, guided by Boyu Madduletti (Kona Rameshwaram village headman) and Sri Chelapathi Reddy (Belum).1984.01.03: H. D. Gebauer, Andre Abele, Gisela Rothaupt and Sibylle Wolfgramm continued mapping (total: 403 m). 1996.12.19: Having received a heavy breakfast by Nagi Reddy (Municipal Chairperson, Tadpatri), it were H. D. Gebauer, Renate Kalmbach and Uwe Kalmbach who mapped and explored another 460 m of cave passages, assisted by M. Narayana Reddy, Werner Busch, Iolanda Galletti, Rosario Ruggieri and Vittorio Santoro.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4 | Kona Rameshvaram Daddi Guha | ||
| 1.6 | JUVVIMANI GAVI | ||
| 6.5 | KAMBHAGIRISWAMI HOLE | ||
| 10.7 | LANGU GAVI | ||
| 10.8 | KURUVA BALI GAVI | ||
| 12.8 | CHANDRAPALLE CAVE | ||
| 13.2 | GOPAMA GAVI | ||
| 14.3 | PANCHALINGALASWAMI GUHA, Pasumanpalli | ||
| 16.2 | UPPALAPADDE TALUS CAVE |