LABIT, Sutnga - Inspection Bungalow (Krem)
25.365300,92.421600
Description
A sacred horizontal cave (temple cave) with two entrances. ETYMOLOGY: The Synteng (Khasi) "Krem Labit" translates as »Bat Cave« (note 1). CULTURAL HISTORY - Human use: The cave is well known and used as a Hindu place of worship. On 17th and 18th February 2002 Dr. Boycott saw at the lower entrance a Hindu shrine with pictures of Krishna, Ganesh and two other gods, in addition to burnt offerings of Indian and Nepali 5 Rupee bank notes and coins scattered throughout the cave. There is a second, inner shrine in the low crawl above the first boulder obstruction. SITUATION: At a walking distance of some 10 to 15 minutes (Galloway: 20 to 30 minutes) from the Sutnga P.W.D. - I.B. (Public Works Department Inspection Bungalow). The near vertical entrance (2 m by 4 m wide) lies immediately above the northern (orographically left) side of an about 30 m long concrete trench, part of an abandoned irrigation channel (March 1999), and about halfway up on a slope of one of many roundish hills. At a closer look this particular hill is marked with a few inconspicuous limestone pinnacles. POSITIONS: Southern / Lower / Main Entrance: N25°21'55.0": E92°25'16.0" (±135 m, WGS84, H.D. Gebauer 1999.03.38, Garmin 4): 1080 m asl (GPS); N25°21'55.1": E92°25'17.8" (unidentified precision error, WGS84, R. Galloway 2001.02.18, Garmin Etrex); N25°21'55.0": E92°25'21.0" (±8.4 m, WGS84, A. Boycott 2002.02.16, Garmin 12XL); Northern / Upper Entrance: 25°21'57.5”N: 92°25'16.3”E (unidentified precision error, WGS84, R. Galloway 2001.02.18, Etrex).CAVE DESCRIPTION 1 (Sophie Kumar 1999.04.07 Mss: Krem Labbit): »A short but interesting cave that eventually comes back on itself exiting through another entrance in deep jungle [note 2]. The cave has numerous chambers interlinked by walking sized passages. It is quite pretty in places and contains a large and noisy bat population.« CAVE DESCRIPTION 2 (MEGHALAYA 1999 CAVING EXPEDITION, 1999: 19): »… fairly short … chambers … bats flying around our heads …« CAVE DESCRIPTION 3 (Boycott 2002.02.16 Mss: Krem Labbit, Sutnga I-B): »Description is good. Spring gust below entrance is not enterable. Large 3 cubic metres boulder above track at mid point of cave appears totally without visible support.« CAVE CONTENTS (Boycott 2002.02.16 Mss: Krem Labbit, Sutnga I-B): »Fragments of human bones seen 0.35 m under cave breccia at halfway point: femur, tibia ±? pelvis.« CAVE LIFE (Boycott 2002.02.16 Mss: Krem Labbit, Sutnga I-B): »No bats [Chiroptera] seen on 16/2/02. No fresh bat shit [bat guano] but some bat bones and occasional Heteropoda spiders. Two bats seen on 17/2/02.«
NOTE 1: The standard Khasi ”lymboit” (adjective) means »almost naked« (SINGH, N 1906: 124) while the standard Khasi noun "ka lyngbit" (SINGH, N 1920: 38) signifies »a bat« (zoologically: Chiroptera) and corresponds not only to the Sohra (Khasi) "ka lymbit" (SINGH, N 1906: 124; BLAH, E 2007: 27) and the War Khasi "ka lymput" (Kharpran Daly, Brian D 1994 personal communication) but also to the Lakadong Khasi "ka labiat" (Kondrick Dkhar, Lakadong, 2001.02.23) and the Synteng "ka labit" (Mikir Siangshai, Chiehruphi 1997.02.16; Alfred Lanong, Lumshnong, 1999.02.10). NOTE 2: By February 2000 the vicinity of the entrance was »cleared now« (Jarratt, A R 2001.10.29 personal communication) and had been turned into a »partly cultivated ground« (Galloway, R 2001.02.18 personal communication).
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1999.03.28: Brian D. Kharpran Daly, H. D. Gebauer and Gregory Lyngdoh, guided by numerous young boys and shy young ladies paid a visit on Sunday (no work today …).1999.04.07: Louise Le Flufy, Matthew Truman, Buntie Pettifer, Sophie Kumar measured a passage length of 161.2 m at a vertical range of 27.61 m (-0.56 m, +27.05 m) in company with Gregory D. Diengdoh, Paul A Edmunds, Katharina "Kate" Janossy, Robert Lamb, Adora Thabah and Andrew "Andy" Peter Tyler. 2002.02.16: Boycott, Antony 'Tony' (2002.02.16 Mss: Krem Labbit, Sutnga I-B) and Jayne Stead visited. 2002.02.17: Boycott (2002.02.16 Mss: Krem Labbit, Sutnga I-B) and Stead measured a passage length of 148.01 m at a vertical range of 26.13 m (-22.33 m, +3.8 m).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.2 | LABIT, Sutnga - Inspection Bungalow, 2nd (Krem) | ||
| 1.1 | NARWAN, Sutnga I.B. (Synrang) | ||
| 1.9 | LABIT, Sutnga - Monpat (Krem) | ||
| 2.0 | THANGSADOP (Cave at) | ||
| 2.1 | BLOIN (Krem) | ||
| 3.5 | SATA, Sutnga (Krem) | ||
| 5.8 | SHYMBLEIN (Thlu) | ||
| 5.8 | SYNTEM (Krem) | ||
| 5.9 | URSYLE (Krem) |