PASADWAR (Cave at)
25.145800,92.211100
Description
NOTE 1: "dwar" (Bengali, Hindi, etc.) from "dvar" (Sanskrit), literally a »door« (gate, entrance, etc.; in German: das Tor, die Tür) but in a figurative and metaphoric sense applied to mountain passes or tight passages between boulders, rocks and -- more relevant for underground activists -- to squeezes in caves or other 'fitting' obstacles. NOTE 2: The Hari River (Anglo-Indian) or Hari Nala (Bengali), which known as the Myntdu (Khasi) in the Jaintia Hills, debouches near N25°07'45”: E092°12'40” (WGS84) and about 3 km or 4 km in a direct line south-west from Pasadwar (N25°08'45”: E092°12'40” WGS84) into the plains of Bangladesh. Hari R Survey of India 1922 Half-Inch sheet 83-C/SWHari R AMS 1959 U502 series sheet NG46-10 Shillong Harri River LATOUCHE, T H D (1890: 14)Harry River OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 30, 47-48); OLDHAM, T (1859: 138, 167) Hurry River OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 145) Mantedu OLDHAM, R D (1899 map 2) Mantideo HUNTER, W W (1879, 2: 211) Mentedoo OLDHAM, T (1854 / 1984: 10, 13, 26); OLDHAM, T (1859: 109, 114, 132) Myntdu N25°07'45”: E092°12'37” (Everest 1830, Survey of India 83-C/SW edition 1922).
An unspecified cave entrance (unidentified shape, unidentified dimensions, unidentified orientation, unidentified characteristics) was said to give access to an unidentified cave »at Pasadwar« (Kharpran Daly, B D 1996 personal correspondence). ETYMOLOGY: No autochthonous, indigenous or locally known name has been identified for this cave (Kharpran Daly, B D 1996 Mss) which was referred to by the name of the village of Pasadwar (note 1) or »Pichadar Poonjee« (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984: 30; 1859: 138). SITUATION: In an unspecified setting at an unidentified location somewhere in the vicinity of the village of Pasadwar (N25°08'45”: 092°12'40” WGS84), a village that lies above the orographically right (locally western) bank of the Myntdu, also called Hari River and Hari Nala (note 2). GEOLOGICAL SITUATION 1852: »Precisely as at Cherra Poonjee [Sohra, a.k.a. Cherrapunjee], great deposits of a nummulitic limestone are found at the base of the hills, so below Lakadong there is a great extent of similar limestone. This is seen on the banks of the Harry River [sic!], North of the village of Pichadar Poonjee [Pasadwar ±1 km N25°08'45”: E092°12'40” WGS84]. The beds here dip at a high angle (55° to 65°) to the South, and support a great thickness of sandstones and shaly beds, which are all conformable to the limestone below« (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984: 30; 1859: 138). GEOLOGICAL SITUATION 1996: The village of Pasadwar itself stands on the young (Oligocene) Kopili Formation but 1 km to 1.5 km north of Pasadwar, the Kopili Formation is bounded by the EW-running Dauki Fault. North of the Dauki fault and parallel to it follows a 0.7 m to 1.5 km wide belt of Lakadong Lime- and Sandstone. There exists, however, a small triangular outlier of Prang Limestone above the right (western) bank of Hari River (ca. 1 km north of Pasadwar and 0.5 km ESE of Kharkhana village). North of the Lakadong Limestone band of Kharkhana follows a belt of Langpar sandstones and shales of irregular width adjacent to Therria Sandstone. Even further north, Lakadong Limestone below the plateau is capped by Lakadong Sandstone (NAG & PAL 1996).
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1996: Brian D Kharpran Daly had heard about an unidentified »krem« or cave »at Pasadwar« (Kharpran Daly, B D 1996 personal correspondence). 2014.01.10: Brian D Kharpran Daly had »collected a few cave names during the half hour I had with [an unidentified] the headman« (no name mentioned) at »Kharkhana village« (N25°09': E092°13') and environs, which include, near »Pasadwar village: Krem Chki« (Kharpran Daly, B D 2014.01.11 Mss). 2014.02.17: Brian D Kharpran Daly, who instructed Barbara "Boesch" Bösch, Michel "Boesch" Bösch, Oana Chachula, David "Cookie" Cooke, Marcel Dikstra, Peter Ludwig, Des McNally, and Tudor Tamsa, was not the only one who discovered that »Pasadwar is only a short walk from base camp« at Kharkhana (near ±1 km N25°09'30”: E092°12'50” WGS84) when the »Sumo with Brian, Barbara, Des, Michel and Oana took longer to get there then than the others (Peter, Tudor, Cookie, Marcel) did by foot« (anonymous Brooks, S J et al. 2014.04.05 Mss: Diary Meghalaya 2014 Second Edit: 17th February, Monday).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | CHKI, Pasadwar, 1st (Krem) | ||
| 0.5 | CHKI, Pasadwar, 2nd (Krem) | ||
| 1.4 | BLAH, Kharkhana (Krem) | ||
| 1.4 | KHLAW AM (Krem) | ||
| 1.4 | KATDIN (Krem) | ||
| 1.6 | HARTALI (Krem) | ||
| 2.0 | KHLIEH AM (Krem) | ||
| 2.2 | BORGHAT (Cave near) | ||
| 2.6 | AM WAR, Thangsah (Krem) |