Chamere Gufa, Dhadingbesi
27.916700,84.900000
Description
A relatively wide, west-facing cave entrance leads to an only recently (March 1992) established temple cave, which is sacred to an unidentified god or goddess (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26, 28 cave plan, elevation), A short way in, the cave passage (about 2 m wide and 3 m high) is walled-off but a door or gate gives access to an underground passage which initially descends 6 m down to a mud covered floor before the route ascends among collapse boulders for another 100 m of bouldery crawlways mixed with few reasonably sized cave passages to the topmost accessible height 33 m above the cave entrance. Though the cave does contain secondary calcite formations (speleothems) it is ugly throughout (instable, constricted and muddy) and formed in a "giant boulder collapse" into which only a visionary seer endowed with karstic eyesight is able to project three levels of karstification (note 1). ETYMOLOGY: The cave name »Chamere Gupha« (DUCLUZAUX & SCHENKER 1992: 59; DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26, 28) is a version of the Gorkhali (aka Nepali) "Chamero Gufa" for Bat Cave. The entertaining part follows when DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26) locates »Chamere Gupha« not only in Dhading district but also at »Gahiri Basaha« but this is not a place name but the invitation to »sit down, get seated« (note 2). IDENTITY: Compare –>Gupteshvar Cave (Dhading), –>Gugieshwary Mahadeo Gufa / Papi Drewa Dharma Drewa, and –>Nagdhunga Gufa. SITUATION: For all practical reasons on the summit of an unidentified hill or mountain (note 3) without known name, which, according to DUCLUZAUX (1993d: 26), culminates since 10 million years not only at a linear distance of 30 km in an unidentified direction from Kathmandu (note 4) but also at a walking distance of 4 hours across an unidentified pass into a direction that appeared to be east (note 5) of »Dhading Besi« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26), »Dhadinbesi« or Dhadingbesi (note 6). CULTURAL HISTORY - religious show cave & cave legend: One or several unidentified entrepreneurs from an unidentified village commenced in March 1992 to turn the cave and unprofitable bat hunting ground into a religious industry outlet providing access to venerable speleothems simply by declaring secondary calcite deposits as aniconic representations of the four currently best-selling gods of the Hindu pantheon, namely Shiva (aka Mahadeva), Parvati, Ganesh and Hanuman. By October / November 1992, resident entrepreneurs had already erected a small temple near the cave, contemplated erecting a grand temple, and conceived constructing a road to the cave entrance as a desirable future possibility (note 7). At the same time, Bruno Ducluzaux contributed to the not yet -- if not at all -- existing attractiveness of the envisaged religious trading post by inventing a spelologically sounding karst legend according to which the cave existed from the very beginning of the Himalayan orogenesis onwards (note 8).
NOTE 1: »La progression se fait dans une gigantesque trémie qui recoupe trois niveaux de galeries karstiques« (DUCLUZAUX & SCHENKER 1992: 59). »La progression se fait entre les blocs d'une gigantesque trémie, qui recoupe trois niveaux karstiques. Cette cavité … n'est pas une belle grotte (boue, étroitures, trémies). C'est le seul trou himalayen où la visite n'a pas été agréable« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26). NOTE 2: "gahiro" (adjective) deep; "basaunu" (verb, transitive) to set, to get seated. NOTE 3: »Le réseau, pratiquement au summet d'une montagne, doit être très ancien« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26). NOTE 4: »Le souvlèment de la region a commencé il y a 10 Ma« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26). NOTE 5: One problem is that walking from Dhadingbesi 4 hours east does not lead across any pass but continues uphill along a spur while walking from Dhadingbesi 4 hours SOUTH does cross a pass and leads to Sunoulabazar (N27°51'40”: E084°53'00”), a village which does lie, just as the Bat Cave of DUCLUZAUX (1993), as good as on top of a hill, but also is the site of the locally famous –>Gupteshwar Gufa (Sunoulabazar). NOTE 6: »Dhading Besi« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26) is indicated as »Dhadingbesi« near (±250 m) N27°54'40”: E084°53'45” (unknown geodetic datum) on the Central Service Map 30 Dhading (1989 edition) but -- probably by mistake -- as »Dhadinbesi .579« in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) map 25G3. NOTE 7: »Les habitants ont déjà aménagé un petit temple à l'entrée et envisagent d'en construire un grand. Ils ont creusé un large sentier pour accéder à la grotte. A l'intérieur, les concrétions sont associées à des dieux : Shiva, Parbati, Mahadeva, Hanuman, Ganesh« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26).NOTE 8: »Cette grotte es très ancienne (tertiaire)« (DUCLUZAUX & SCHENKER 1992: 59). »Le réseau … doit être très ancien« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26).
Documents
Bibliography 15/07/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: Little doubt remains that the Chamero Gupha 4 hours east of Dhadingbesi is known to people familiar with the area since times immemorial. 1992 March: One or several unidentified entrepreneurs from an unidentified village commenced turning the cave into a religious industry outlet providing access to aniconic representations (venerable speleothems) of the four currently best-selling gods of the Hindu pantheon, namely Shiva (aka Mahadeva), Parvati, Ganesh and Hanuman. In October / November 1992 »Les habitants ont déjà aménagé un petit temple à l'entrée et envisagent d'en construire un grand. Ils ont creusé un large sentier pour accéder à la grotte. A l'intérieur, les concrétions sont associées à des dieux : Shiva, Parbati, Mahadeva, Hanuman, Ganesh« (DUCLUZAUX 1993d: 26).(DUCLUZAUX & SCHENKER 1992: 59; DUCLUZAUX 1993c, 1993d: 26).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.4 | GUPTESHWAR CAVE, Dhading | ||
| 13.1 | GUGIESHWARI MAHADEV GUFA, Dhading | ||
| 27.8 | SITA GUFA, Gorkha | ||
| 39.4 | BHALUKO GUFA | ||
| 42.9 | NAGARJUNA HILL CAVE 2, Raniban | ||
| 43.2 | NAGARJUNA HILL CAVE 1, Balaju | ||
| 43.4 | THARA GUPHA | ||
| 43.7 | Ratomato Quarry Cave | ||
| 50.6 | SURJEGHATAKO OTAR |