MAHADEO BAT CAVE (aa -)
25.233300,90.875000
Description
No locally known name has been identified for a cave entrance (compare –>Makkre Kol) without a identified shape or dimensions, which faces an unknown direction and gives the impression of leading to an unexplored, estimated 50 m long cave (note 1). IDENTITY: Andrew "Andy" Peter Tyler (2002.10.24 personal correspondence) tells me –>Makre Kol (Makkre Kol) »… is not the same as Tony's Dobakhol [i.e. Mahadeo Bat Cave], which is above the resurgence cave, because Colin & Adora were exploring Dobakol at the same time I was in Makre kol.«SITUATION: Somewhere in the Mahadeo nala. According to BROOKS & SMART (1995: 46), the so-called »Mahadeo Bat Cave (Mahadeo Dobhakol?)« lies at a difficult to identify location (note 2), perhaps above the east (left) or possibly above the west (right) bank of the Mahadeo River and »some 50 metres downstream (south)« of a certain »upstream entrance« (note 3) of –>Chirenkol (Mahadeo nala), the mis-nomed »Mahadeo River Cave« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 46-47) which is no river cave at all. On the other hand, BROOKS & SMART (1995: 46) reckon »this cave was most likely once part of Mahadeo River Cave [Chirenkol] having been dissected from it when the Mahadeo River gorge was cut« and this could either mean that A) the two caves lie either opposite across the river, which has cut right through the original cave or, otherwise, B) above one and the same bank of the river, which has laterally eroded away the now missing link. CAVE DESCRIPTION: Interestingly enough, »… the entrance to this cave consists of two large entrances« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 46) of which either the lower or the higher one lies »some 10 metres above river level.« In any case, it is the »lower of the two entrances« which gives, via a slippery (bat guano?) 3 m climb down, access to a chamber (estimated 10 m high) where bats live: »A scramble up over a boulder slope leads to a walking size passage that trends to the south to emerge on the cliff face as the second, higher entrance to the cave [note 4]. A short low crawl at the back of this second entrance leads to a 2 m high and 20 m wide bedding chamber [note 5] leading off to the south, which has not been pushed to a conclusion« (note 6). SPELEOMETRY: BROOKS & SMART (1995: 46) claim a »Surveyed length: 50 metres« at an alledged »Surveyed Depth: 4 metres« but Dr. A. Boycott (2001.10.14, personal correspondence) tells me »Mahadeo Bat cave was never surveyed in 1994 -- [with the exception of a] grade 1 five minutes dash at dusk only.« CAVE LIFE: Bats (Chiroptera) use this cave as a day roost and the »slippery climb down« may indicate the presence of bat guano.
NOTE 1: So far, I have found the size of a sports caver's estimated metre to be generally larger than an Imperial British foot but often ranging between 20 and 30 cm and rarely ever attaining half the length of a decimal system's metre.NOTE 2: One problem is that BROOKS & SMART (1995) locate their »Mahadeo Bat Cave« spatially to no topographical feature other than to their »Mahadeo River Cave« and the second problem is that they place the latter in an absurd »right (east) wall of the river gorge« that features a right (west) and a left (east) wall. NOTE 3: Out of Boulder Entrance, Tiger Entrance and Blue Arch (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 47), it is possibly the latter entrance to Chirenkol (Mahadeo nala) that corresponds to the »upstream entrance« of BROOKS & SMART (1995: 46). NOTE 4: The »second, higher entrance to the cave« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 46) is probably not neccessarily higher than the first but an entrance at a higher elevation --read: more than estimated 10 m above the level of the Mahadeo River in February 1994. NOTE 5: Since no mention is made of matrasses, sheets or feather-beds and pillows, the »bedding chamber« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 46) is perhaps a bedding plane chamber formed along a bedding plane (a plane that separates two strata of differing characteristics), especially when there is a difference in susceptibility to dissolution in the two beds (modified after MONROE, W H 1970 / 1972: 3). NOTE 6: It was probably rather the crawl than »the south, which has not been pushed to a conclusion« (BROOKS & SMART 1995: 46).
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1994.02: Boycott, Antony 'Tony' accompanied by Christopher "Blitz" M. Smart, Helen & Rob Harper, dashed in for a minute at dusk. 2001.02.17: Guided by James Marak and Augustine Sangma, Adora Thabah and Colin Rogers surveyed bats in »Tony's Dobhakol« (Tyler, Andrew "Andy" Peter 2001.05.01 Mss: Makkre Kol).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | CHIRINGKOL, Mahadeo nala | ||
| 0.0 | MAKKREKOL, Mahadeo nala | ||
| 0.5 | GNIGIPA TSANGSIM CHIWARIKOL | ||
| 0.6 | CHONGIPA TSANGSIM SAGAKOL | ||
| 1.9 | STALACTITE CAVE, Mahadeo nala (aa -) | ||
| 3.1 | KANAI CAVE | ||
| 3.1 | KANAI RESURGENCE | ||
| 3.1 | KANAI SINK | ||
| 3.1 | BANDINI JALANG, Kanai Nala |