KRISHNAPUR CAVE
15.566700,74.283300
Description
No locally known name has been identified for a cave, which is called after a nearby village, houses bats, and is either formed in laterite or in sacharoidal limestone of the Dharwar series (note 1). SITUATION: At an unidentified location somewhere in a forest area and 25 km along roads in an unspecified direction from –>Barapede Cave (note 2). BROSSET (1962a: 49) places »Krishnapur Caves« (note the honorific plural) not far from the Goa border. APPROACH: The cave is said to be reached by travelling 30 km approximately south along the road from Khanapur (note 3) via Londa (N15°28': E74°31') up to »Shirdi« (note 4), a village about 30 km along the road from Karwar (note 5) initially north and later east. From Shirdi, a 6 km long rough jungle track (motorable in the dry season) leads to the hamlet »Hemdaga« or Hemadge (note 6), from where the caves can be reached by walking (note 7) for a kilometre or two. APPROACH 2: An anonymous contributor to sort of a »club« combining economical with ecological outlooks recommends to »drive on rough jungle track to the bat caves near the village of Krishnapur. From here it is a 25 minute trek to the caves that house thousands of bats. The terrain is steep, the jungle thick and the trek is rather strenuous, you need to be reasonably fit. The caves and the bats are an amazing sight. Good walking shoes are absolutely necessary; it can be very mucky [bat guano?] …« (ecoclub.com/hermitage/activities.html accessed 30.12.2003). CAVE DESCRIPTION: »Krishnapur … Natural cave (forest area).« CULTURAL HISTORY: Human use & cave tourism: In 2003, the "Ecolodge" at Khanapur offered [note 8] excursions to the cave »at Krishnapur ($14) … within a short drive & hike« (BROSSET 1962a: 11). CAVE LIFE: BROSSET (1962a: 11 table) noticed one May a »big colony« of the Fulvous Fruit bat (Chiroptera: Rousettus leschenaultii Desmarest 1820). BROSSET (1962a: 47) noticed the presence of Black-bearded tomb bat (Emballonuridae: Taphozous melanopogon Temminck 1841). BROSSET (1962a: 49) tells it was one P.W. Soman who secured in May 1961 seven specimens (all males) of Taphozous theobaldi DOBSON 1872 from »Krishnapur Caves« (sic!) -- the second record (note 9) for India. Some entrepreneurs invite recreational bat spotting adventure tourism: »And a special note to Bat Watchers: Apart from the bats that frequent our Chikoo Orchard, we have the privilege of living very near [–>Barapede Cave]. … Further, at Krishnapur you will find the Theobald Tomb Bat, Taphozous theobaldi, one of only three places in the world that they can be found, the other two being in Madhya Pradesh, in central India. Rousettus leschenaultii, is another bat you can see at Krishnapur. Trek to see your favourite mammals through some really fascinating jungle« (earthfoot.org/p2/in016.htm accessed 2006.12.26).
NOTE 1: PRASADA RAO et al. (1965: 167) after KRISHNAN, M S (1954: 69) reports sacharoidal limestone from a place called Bhimgadh (N15°35': E74°18') at a similar position. NOTE 2: PATIL (2003) places his »Bhimgad Caves« (consider an honorific plural) about 6 km from »Barapedi Cave« (–>Barapede Cave) and »Bhimghad« (PATIL 2003) appears to correspond to the »Bhimgar« near N15°35'30": E74°17' on AMS sheet ND43-02 Belgaum (U502 series, 1960 edition) and Survey of India sheet 48-I/03 in an area high above the left bank of Mahadali River. NOTE 3: Khanpur or Khanapur N15°38': E74°31': 668 m asl, in Belgaum district, falling on the Survey of India sheet 48-I/10 and on AMS sheet ND43-02 Belgaum (U502 series) is indicated as »Khauapur« on the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 106 A1) on the Southern Central Railway. NOTE 4: »Shirdi« (?) as such is neither listed on nima.mil/geonames (accessed 16.11.2003) or in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006 index) nor shown on AMS sheet ND43-02 Belgaum (U502 series 1960), AMS sheet ND43-06 Karwar (U502 series 1960 edition), or on India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) maps 105 or 106). NOTE 5: Karwar N14°48': E74°07'30" (AMS sheet ND43-06). NOTE 6: The small village of Hemadge (Hemdaga N15°32': E74°23') lies on the road from Molem (N15°22': E74°13' in Goa) via Anmad (N15°26'30": E74°18'30" in Belgaum) to Kollarvade (N15°34': E74°27'). NOTE 7: ecoclub.com/hermitage/activities.html (accessed 30.12.2003): From the »bat caves near the village of Krishnapur… it is a 25 minute trek« to the –>Kavala Caves. NOTE 8: i-escape.com/hotel.php?section=activities&hotel_ke… (accessed 30.12.2003). NOTE 9: According to various authors (GOSH 1998; McCONNEL 2000; PATIL 2003) after BATES & HARRISON (1997: 45-46), Theobald’s Tomb Bat (Taphozous theobaldi DOBSON 1872) is found in only three places in the Indian Peninsula, viz. –>Asirgarh (N21°29': E76°16', Madhya Pradesh), Richai (unknown position, Madhya Pradesh) and Krishnapur (Karnataka, Belgaum district). Apart from these sites, this bat is found in only three other places in the world: Burma (renamed Myanmar), Java and west Malaysia (ex- Malaya).
Documents
Bibliography 05/04/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1954: KRISHNAN, M S (1954: 69) had studied the limestones of the area. 1961 May: Soman, P W (BROSSET 1962a: 49), Junior Research Assistant, Bombay Natural History Society, obtained the second record of Taphozous theobaldi for India in Krishnapur Cave (BROSSET 1962b: 48-49).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | TALEWADI CAVE | ||
| 15.4 | SADDA (Cave near) | ||
| 20.0 | MAUXI | ||
| 20.5 | KOLIK CAVE | ||
| 21.9 | HOLUND CAVE (Cave near) | ||
| 23.5 | PISSURLEM (Caves at) | ||
| 25.0 | ARVALEM CAVE 2 | ||
| 27.5 | USGAO (Caves at) | ||
| 30.7 | SAVOI VEREM (Caves at) |