MOHURI KALUA CAVE
19.300000,84.500000
Description
A temple cave (note 1) in three huge rocks, which lean against each other like a house of cards, is sacred to Mohuri Kalua and the home this goddess, who is represented by a cone-shaped mound of soil, about half a metre high and topped with a vermilion coloured papermâché head with golden eyes and a protruding tongue. Put up above the idol is a canopy of peacock feathers (SCHNEPEL 1993b: 340-341). SITUATION: The sacred rift cave opens in the solitary hill above her main temple, which lies at a (travelling?) distance of 12 km west of Berhampur / Brahmapur (note 2) and in a picturesque landscape (note 3) at an unspecified location somewhere on the rim of so-called »Kerandi hills« (note 4). The main temple stands where the vessel landed which the goddess hurled from the hill (note 5). CAVE DESCRIPTION: SCHNEPEL (1993a: 20-21, 23) gives a simplified version of SCHNEPEL (1993b) but provides a photograph showing the cave entrance: A narrow, perhaps 30 cm wide but high entrance along a curvilinear crack in what looks like granite (note 6).SCHNEPEL (1993b: 340-341) reports a toilsome ascend of the hill and access via a narrow rift to a cool and daylight-lit cave without recognised dimensions.
NOTE 1: Manfred Moser (1998 personal correspondence) forwarded the references to SCHNEPEL (1993a, 1993b). NOTE 2: Berhampur (Brahmapur, Barampuram, Brahmpur) at N19°19': E084°47' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) is indicated as »Berhampur« on AMS sheet NE45-01 Berhampur (U502 series, 1959 edition) and »Brahmapur« on the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 97 H1). NOTE 3: »Along the coast the scenery is uninteresting, but the low hills to the east [=west, otherwise in the Bay of Bengal] of Berhampur render the inland part picturesque« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 8: 2). NOTE 4: The allegedly north-south trending »Kerandi hills« are not identified as they are not listed on nima.mil/geonames (accessed 16.11.2003) or in IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1907, 25: 290) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006 index). NOTE 5: »Unmittelbar hinter dem Tempel befindet sich ein einzelner, steil in die Höhe gehender Berg, auf den ein steiniger Pfad führt. Nach einem mühsamen Aufstieg oben angekommen, betritt man durch einen schmalen Spalt eine lichte und kühle Höhle, die durch drei große, in der Art eines Kartenhauses zusammenstehende Felsblöcke gebildet wird. In dieser Höhle befindet sich die ursprüngliche Göttin in der Form eines kleinen, etwa 50 cm hohen Erdhaufens von konischer Gestalt. Ein zinnoberroter Papp-Kopf mit goldenen Augen und einer herausgestreckten Zunge ist diesem irdenen Körper aufgesetzt. Über der Figur befindet sich eine Tiara aus Pfauenfedern. Der Göttin auf dem Hügel wird zweimal wöchentlich, sonntags und dienstags, puja-Dienst dargebracht. Man sagt, daß Mohuri Kalua, um ihren Anbetern den beschwerlichen Aufstieg zu ersparen, ein Gefäß vom Berge schleuderte. Exakt an der Stelle, wo dieses landete, befindet sich heute der Haupttempel« (SCHNEPEL 1993b: 340-341). NOTE 6: Ganjam district: »… The rocks exposed are Archaean gneisses and schists of the older and younger type, together with intrusive bands of charnockite (hypersthene granulite) and biotite gneissose granite. The younger type is of a distinctly metamorphic series. Cappings of high-level horizontal laterite, as much as 200 feet [60 m] thick, are common at about the 4,00 feet [1'200 m] level. In the flat coast region, except for the thickly dotted rocky ridges and hills, recent alluvium and low-level lateritic red clay are generally present« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 12: 144).
Documents
Bibliography 27/04/2016- Schnepel, Burkhard 1993a, 1993b.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96.3 | PANDURANGA SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGE | ||
| 105.6 | SHAILODBHAVA (Cave of) | ||
| 151.7 | PANDAVA CAVE, Khordha | ||
| 170.6 | DHAULI, Aswastama Hill (Caves at) | ||
| 170.6 | DHAULI CAVE 1 | ||
| 170.6 | DHAULI CAVE 2 | ||
| 170.6 | DHOWLEE (Caves at) | ||
| 170.6 | PANDAVA CAVE, Dhauli | ||
| 172.0 | GANESH GUMPHA, Khandgiri - Udayagiri |