GUMPHOLE CAVE
29.666700,80.402800
Description
Not only an unspecified cave entrance (unidentified shape, unidentified dimensions, unidentified orientation, unidentified characteristics) but also two daylight windows give access to the »cave at Gumphole«, which RUBINSTEIN (1988a) reports as the largest of the four caves in the vicinity of the village of –>Lali. ETYMOLOGY: It means little that »Gumphole« (RUBINSTEIN 1988a) makes no sense to me (note 2). SITUATION: At an unspecified location somewhere in the vicinity of the village of Lali (note 1). CAVE DESCRIPTION: »This cave was part of a temple and involved a bit of a public relations hassle just getting into it. This cave opens into a large breakdown area with a smaller passage leading in from the right. Following this corkscrew passage down, I came to another breakdown room. Squeezing under a low flowstone arch, the passage continues directly upwards. Here are some old speleothems. I popped through a small hole and back into the large entrance room. From there I went back to the side passage, but instead of going down, I climbed up to two skylights. I returned to the entrance room and crossed over the hole I popped up from earlier. I entered a fissure passage, but it was soon blocked by a chokestone. I could get my arm and head in, but no more of me. ... I could see walking passage« (RUBINSTEIN 1988a: 10-11). CULTURAL HISTORY: Since the cave at Gumphole was »part of a temple and involved a bit of a public relations hassle just getting into it«, it seems to be a temple cave sacred to Hindus. As it contains unpecified »old speleothems« it is possibly dedictated to Shiva represented by phallic and hence, if you like or need it, venerable stalagmites.
NOTE 1: Lali (±500 m 29°40'00”N: 80°24'10”E Central Service Map 75 Dharchula, 1989 edition) lies where the Laliki Gad (stream of Lali) joins the east (orographically left) bank of the Mahakali (Kali, Vyas, Byas) river about 6 km or 9 km north of the river Chamliya and just opposite across from Askot (29°46'N: 80°21'E) in Pithoragarh district (India, Uttarakhand state). Lali is not shown in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) map 12 D3. NOTE 2: The Gorkhali (aka Nepali) "gumaunu" (verb, transitive) means »[to] loose« (KRÄMER, K-H 2007 nep_ger.pdf) and the old "gumpha" (noun, Pakrit) from "gupta" (Sanskrit, past participle of gupd; concealed, hidden; preserved, private) is (was) the word for »hiding« (the action of concealing someone or something) or »hide-out« (hiding place) and is frequently applied to more or less inhabitable caves associated with Sita, the ideal houswife of the Ramayana epic. It is probably too far fetched to identifiy »Gumphole« (RUBINSTEIN, J 1988a) with one of the pair of villages indicated on the Central Service Map 74 Baitadi (1989 edition) as Gokule 29°39'45”N: 80°33'00”E (±500 m, just inside Baitadi district), and Gokule 29°40'00”N: 80°32'15”E (±500 m, just inside Darchula district) about 14 km in a direct line due east of Lali (±500 m 29°40'00”N: 80°24'10”E).
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1988: Joshua RUBINSTEIN (1988a) »recently spent four days in the village of Lali on the Mahakali, and each day … went in a cave.« The largest was »a cave at Gumphole.«
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | LALI CAVE 1 | ||
| 0.0 | LALI CAVE 2 | ||
| 0.0 | LALI CAVE 3 | ||
| 12.2 | ASKOT (Caves near) | ||
| 13.0 | GOTHALAPANI GUPHA | ||
| 16.8 | Eaklaag Gupha | ||
| 16.8 | Eaklaag Gupha 2 | ||
| 19.7 | JHULAGHAT - PANCHESHWAR STALSCAPE | ||
| 20.2 | PITHORAGARH: CHANDAK 1 |