HATHKAMBA (Cave at)
17.005300,73.433400
Description
A natural cave in laterite (note 1) of archaeological importance (SANKALIA 1974: 249) to lie somewhere in the vicinity of the »village« of Hathkamba (note 2). ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous, indigenous or locally known name has been identified for for this cave which was called (SANKALIA1974: 249; MARATHE 2006: 1539) after the village of Hathkamba (note 3). Unidentified local informants (no names mentioned) told Thomas Matthalm (2007.01.29 personal communication) on 27th January 2007 a cave name, which translated as »Tiger Cave« or »Tiger's Den« and possibly corresponds to something along the lines of a Bagh Gupha (Hindi) or Bagh Gumpha (Marathi).SITUATION: The "new" (upper) village of Hathkamba lies in hilly grass-lands (note 4) at a road junction and bus stop (note 6) on the Mumbay - Goa National Highway NH17 (note 7) and some 11 km along the road approximately east-northeast from Ratnagiri town (note 5), from where it is accessible by local bus or stretch limousine, bicycle, flying carpet, and the like. The entrance to the Hathkamba Cave proper (Matthalm's Hathkamba cave 3), the largest of the three known laterite caves in this vicinity, lies vertically about 30 m uphill from the road junction and at about halfway (N17°00'19”: E73°26'00”: 216 m asl WGS84 unidentified precision error, T. Matthalm 2007.01.27) on the road to the "old" village of Hathkamba. CAVE DESCRIPTION 2007: In the back a SSE-facing rock shelter (about 10 m wide, 3 m high and 2 to 3 m horizontally deep) in laterite is a vaulted cave entrance (up to 6.2 m wide and 2.35 m high) which leads to a vesical cave represented by roundish chamber (about 6 by 8 m wide and 2.7 m high) with a level floor and and a roundish daylight window (ceiling collapse, fallen boulders below) about 2.5 to 4 m wide. The level floor is covered with soil (deriving from laterite), deposited on which one finds (attention!) discarded plastic bags of decaying hospital waste. The far NNW (315°) corner of the cave chamber gives access to an inlet, a linear stream cave passage (abandoned by flowing water) with a vaulted ceiling and a level floor of laterite soil buried under a cover of bat guano. Due to infillings, however, this "stream passage" deteriorates in size within 10 m from initially up to 3 m in width and 0.7 m height to a hot and humid belly crawl (more likely: bat shit crawl) less than 30 cm high and without apparent air current (after T. Matthalm 2007.01.27 notebook). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1974: The front hall measures 5 by 5 m but inside it narrows down and passes into a low gallery. There is a »natural opening« in the roof. The cave floor consists of dark red or brown »earth« (soil) derived from laterite and is at least 1 m or 1.5 m thick at the cave entrance and in the centre of the cave (after SANKALIA 1974: 249). CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: Archaeological excavation of the site, discovered by R.V. Joshi in 1970, yielded Stone Age tools ascribed on typological grounds to the Mesolithic period (SANKALIA 1974: 249). By January 2007, the cave has been used as a rubbish dump to get rid of problematic hospital waste. CAVE LIFE: On 27th January 2007 Thomas Matthalm saw more than six bats (Chiroptera).
NOTE 1: »I had no opportunity of examining the rocks at Ratnagherry [Ratnagiri], which lies between Malwan [N16°04': E73°28'] and Sarki [Sakhri? N17°35': E73°10'] but the contour of the ghauts [Western Ghats] here is apparently trappean. At Sarki the trap hills descend towards the coast in long, flat-topped, wall-like promontories, becoming higher and wilder around Severndroog« (NEWBOLD, T J 1846e: 229). NOTE 2: The village of »Hathkamba« is indicated near N17°01'30": E73°25' on AMS sheet NE43-09 Khed (U502 series, 1960 edition) and positioned as Hatkamba, Hatkhambe, and Hathkumbe at N17°00': E73°25' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). NOTE 3: "hath" is the Hindi (etc.) word for an elephant and "khamba" signifies a pole, pillar or coloumn. NOTE 4: »Ratnagiri is occupied almost entirely by the basaltic formation of the Deccan trap overlaid with laterite, except in the southernmost portion near Malvan [N16°04': E73°28' WGS84], where a substratum of gneiss and of Cuddapah beds [sandstones and limestones] appears from beneath the basalt and laterite. Tertiary beds containing fossil plants, the exact age of which is unknown, occur at Ratnagiri [N16°59': E73°18']. … The chief trees of the district are teak [Tectona grandis], ain, kinjal, catechu [Areca catechu], shisham (Dalbergia Sissoo), mana (Lagerstroemia lanceolata), taman (Lagerstroemia Flos Reginae), and bamboo [Bambus var.]. From an economic point of view, the coco-nut palm is the most important tree in the district. … Game is scarce … The flying fox (or fruit bat) and musk rat are common everywhere …The climate of the district, though moist and relaxing, is on the whle healthy. Fifteen miles [24 km] from the coast extremes of cold and heat are experienced … The mean annual temperature of Ratnagiri town on the sea-coast is 83° [Fahrenheit = 28.3°C] and of Dapoli [N17°46': E73°11'], 57 miles [92 km] from the coast, 87° [30.6°]. At the former town the temperature falls as low as 61° [16.1°C] in January and reaches 83° [33.9°C] in May. … The fall of rain averages 100 inches [2.54 m] at Ratnagiri and is considerably greater inland than on the coast. The maximum is 166 inches [4.22 m] in the Medangarh petha, and the minimum 95 inches [2.4 m] in the Devgarh taluka. … The Chiplun and Kol caves show that between 200 B.C. and A.D. 50 northern Ratnagiri had Buddhist settlements of some importance … Ratnagiri also contains other Hindu and Musalman remains. The chief are the underground temple of Chandikabai« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 21: 246-248). NOTE 5: »Ratnagherry« (NEWBOLD, T J 1846e: 229), »Ratnagiri« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 21: 257) or »Ratnagiri« and »Rutnagherry« (N16°59': E073°18' nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) is indicated as »Ratnagiri« on AMS sheet NE43-13 Ratnagiri (U502 series, 1957 edition) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 90 B2). IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 21: 257) places »Ratnagiri town … 136 miles [219 km] south-by-east of Bombay city … is open and faces the sea; the fort stands on a rock between two small bays …« NOTE 6: The road junction and –>Hathkamba Cave 3 was GPS positioned at N17°00'53”: E73°24'19.2” (unspecified EPE, WGS84, T. Matthalm 2007.01.27): 186 m asl (GPS Garmin 12). NOTE 7: The National Highway NH17 runs from Bombay - Thane (N19°12': E72°58' along the road 343 km north from Hathkamba ) south along the Konkan coast via Panjim in Goa (N15°29': E73°50' along the road 269 km south of Hathkamba) to Ernakulam (N09°59': E76°17') in Kerala State.
Documents
Bibliography 28/03/2016- Joshi, Ramchandra Vinayak & Bopardikar, B P 1972; Marathe, Ashok 2006; Sankalia, Hasmukh Dhirajlal 1974.
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1970: Not only a certain R. N. Joshi discovered the archaeological importance of the cave near »Hathkamba« (SANKALIA 1974: 249) but also Ramchandra Vinayak Johsi and B. P. Bopardikar (JOSHI & BOPARDIKAR 1972) »on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of India explored the region around Kolaba and Ratnagiri districts. Their major discoveries were of Mesolithic cave sites at Pachad (District Raigadh) and Hatkhamba (District Ratnagiri). Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts were discovered around Mahad (District Raigadh) as surface finds« (MARATHE 2006: 1539).2007.01.27: Thomas Matthalm (2007.01.28 personal communication) identified the »Hathkamba Cave« of SANKALIA (1974: 249) with one »Hathkamba No. 3« after unidentified local guides (no names mentioned) had initially taken him to »Hathkamba No. 1« (i.e. –>Hathkamba Cave 3) and later to »Hathkamba No. 2« (i.e. –>Hathkamba Cave 2). Thomas Matthalm mapped and explored the cave, assisted by a local guide at the dump end of the fiber-glass tape, and took a bit of video footage.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | HATHKAMBA 2 (Cave at) | ||
| 3.2 | HATHKAMBA 3 (Cave at) | ||
| 14.4 | CHANDIKABAI UNDERGROUND TEMPLE | ||
| 14.4 | RATNAGIRI FORT STEPWELL | ||
| 14.4 | RATNADURGA (Sahasrabuddhe 2013) (Cave of) | ||
| 17.5 | RATNAGIRI FORT SEA CAVE | ||
| 52.3 | ACHEULIAN CAVE, Susrondi | ||
| 53.7 | MANDAVKARDWADI (Cave at) | ||
| 67.5 | KALAKAI GUHA |