KHAR UDYAR
30.083300,80.616700
Description
A relatively small but interesting cave with a remarkable toll of carbon dioxide (CO2) victims is situated in the back of Sobala (note 1), a village within the reach of a day's excursion from Khela in the Darma Ganga (Daram Ganga) valley (note 2). APPROACH 1949: »One can start early in the morning from Khela [note 3] and return back by evening. Nine and a half miles [15.3 km] up Khela on the Darma road is a hamlet of three houses called Nyo [note 4], very near the village Sovla [note 1]. Some 80 yards behind the houses is a cave called 'Khar-udyar' or 'Death Cave'. The cave is 24 feet [7.3 m] long, 6 feet [1.8 m] broad inside and 12 feet [3.7 m] at the mouth. It is said that whatever creature enters it dies instantaneously« (PRANAVANANDA 1949: 97-98, 116) APPROACH 1994: »Starting from Tawaghat [note 5], we first reach the small village of Nue [note 4] from where a gradual but constant climb starts for Sobala [note 1]. Immediately behind Sobala is a big cave called Khar Udiyar or 'cave of the death'. The cave is about three metres in diameter at the mouth. Of the depth, there are various accounts placing it at 8 or 10 m« (SHARMA, M M 1994: 145-146) CARBON DIOXIDE - bad air: Visiting the cave on 5th October 1937, PRANAVANANDA (1949: 98) learned from local villagers that two Patwaris or Chaudans (goat grazers) once experimented by sending two goats inside, tied to a rope. One goat died as it entered the cave, and the other, immediately dragged out, collapsed but »was brought to consciousness by splashing water on its face.« PRANAVANANDA (1949: 99) experimented on 18th October 1939 with burning splinters of pine wood which extinguished in a 3 feet [0.9 m] thick layer of suffocating gas. On 12th November 1940 PRANAVANANDA (1949: 98) had collected gas samples in test-tubes, added solution of barium peroxide and proved carbon dioxide. This time the bad air was spread to a height of 4 feet (1.2 m). PRANAVANANDA (1949: 98) suggests, possibly judging from dead bodies of birds seen in October, which were less composed than those seen in November (of the following year!), that »during the rainy season, when water enters the cave, carbon dioxide is given out very profusely filling the whole cave; hence a flying bird as soon as it enters the cave is suffocated and falls down dead.« SHARMA, M M (1994: 145-146) draws from PRANAVANANDA, as in many other cases without acknowledgement, when stating that »the gas is strongest in the spring and rainy seasons. The effect is progressively lesser after September and the cave is quite safe in December - January.« KARSTOLOGY: Considering the limestones in the area are associated with pyritiferous shales, the carbon dioxide is possibly the result of sulphuric acid turning calcite into gypsum. Khar Udyar is suspected to represent a case of hypogene speleogenesis (KLIMCHOUK 2007) where limestone dissolution processes are not powered by air-borne but by earth-borne acids rising from inside the earth. CAVE "LIFE": PRANAVANANDA (1949: 97) observed on 5th October 1937 not only an approximate number of 40 dead bodies of kalchuna birds, of which some were fresh, but also some crows, a few other birds, several »big wild spiders« (Araneae: conf. Sparassidae: Heteropoda sp.?), rats, and two »old« skeletons of »Boa constrictor« snakes.
NOTE 1: »Sovla« (PRANAVANANDA 1949) and »Sobala« (SHARMA 1994) is indicated as »Sobala« near N30°05': E080°37' on AMS sheet NH44-05 Dehra Dun (U502 series, 1959 edition) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 13 E2). NOTE 2: The valley of the Darma Ganga (Daram Ganga) or Dhauliganga flows 20 km north of Darchula / Dharchula (N29°51': E080°33') and just off the pilgrimage route from Almora (Uttaranchal, Bharat / ex-India) to Mt. Kailash (also: Kailas / Tisi, in Purang district, Ngari province, Tibet). NOTE 3: Khela N29°58': E080°35' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003): 1680 m asl (PRANAVANANDA 1949: 97) on AMS sheet NH44-10 Almora (1958 edition) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 13 E2). NOTE 4: »Nyo« (PRANAVANANDA 1949) and »Nue« (SHARMA 1994) is indicated as »Nyu« near N30°04': E080°35' on AMS sheet NH44-06 Nanda Devi (1958 edition). NOTE 5: »Tawaghat« (SHARMA 1994: 145) and »Tova Ghat« (PRANAVANANDA 1949: 116, at 3600 feet or 1100 m asl) is neither shown on the AMS sheets NH44-06 Nanda Devi or NH44-10 Almora (1958 edition) nor positioned on nima.mil/geonames (accessed 16.11.2003) near N29°58': E080°37' but indicated as »Tawaghat« on kmvn.org/images/kumaon-map-big.gif (accessed 2005.10.06) at distances of 19 km approximately north-east of Darchula (N29°51': E080°33'), 16 km SSW of »Sobla [Sobala, Sovala, N30°05': E080°35') and 17 km ESE of Mangti (N29°59'30”: E080°43').
Documents
Bibliography 30/03/2016- Pranavananda, Swami [alias: Somayajulu, Kanakadandi Venkata] 1949, 1983; Sharma, Man Mohan 1994.
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1937.10.05: PRANAVANANDA (1949: 97) entered the cave in the presence of some villagers and found, on this occasion, no gas. He was told that many Europeans and several District Magistrates of Almora had visited the cave entrance, but nobody was known to have entered till then. 1939.10.18: PRANAVANANDA (1949: 98) entered with closed nostrils and life-lined by villagers to experiment with burning chips of pine wood. 1940.11.12: PRANAVANANDA (1949: 98) entered again to collect gas samples in test-tubes and to shake them with a solution of barium peroxide to prove carbon dioxide.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.2 | DHAR, Sobala (Caves at) | ||
| 15.8 | VYASA GUFA, Kalirang | ||
| 16.8 | RAPLA (Grotte près de) | ||
| 17.6 | LUNGTIYAR (Caves at) | ||
| 20.2 | SHIVA, Sarju Valley: Song - Bherari (Cave of) | ||
| 20.9 | PELSITI (Caves at) | ||
| 22.6 | BHUDI (Caves near) | ||
| 24.3 | CHHYANGRU (Cave near) | ||
| 24.4 | CHANGRU CAVE, Almora District: Garbyang |