SANYASULA GAVI
15.477800,78.180600
Description
Altogether three cave entrances, of which two face north-east (the central one up to 7 m wide and 8 m high, the northern one 5 m wide and 2 m high) and the third is a pothole (8 m by 4 m wide, 5 m deep), give access to two actually distinct horizontal cave passages, which, however, are more or less parallel and separated from each other only by calcite cemented collapse debris blocking the obvious connection. ETYMOLOGY: The name of the cave called in honour of a nameless "sanyasin" (Sanskrit, Hindi, etc., »like a sadhu; a wandering ascetic who has renounced all worldly things as part of the ashrama system« LONELY PLANET, India 2005: 1111) or several "sanyasula" (Telugu, plural) and "sanyasuli" (PRASAD 1996: 30) is locally pronounced like "Sanyasula Gaye" (B V Satyanarayana, Ramatirtham, 1984.01.29 personal communication). So far, I heard it called and saw it spelled, transcibed or edited as Sanyasi Gavi B V Satyanarayana, Ramatirtham, Zilla Parishad school teacher at Koilimikuntla (1984.01.29 personal communication) Sanyasula Gavi MURTY (1974a: 196, 197 fig. 1), MURTY (1975: 133 fig. 1), MURTY (1975-1976: 361, plate 69 fig 1), MURTY, M L K & THIMMA REDDY, K (1976: 214, 215 figure 1) Sanyasula-Gavi SOUNDARA RAJAN (1989 in GHOSH 1989, 1: 77) and Sanyasuli Gavi PRASAD (1996: 30). IDENTITY: This Adept's or Adepts' Cave is possibly identical with –>Sinigasivani Gavi or »Sinigasi-vani-Gavi« (CAMMIADE 1927: 11) and, perhaps, the unidentified »cave near Buganpilly [note 1], three miles [5 km] north-east of Betumcherru« (note 2), of which FOOTE (1884a: 31) had heard »… but could gather no reliable information about it« (note 3). SITUATION: Unknown. Probably in the range of 5 km approximately east of Bugganipalle (N15°28'20”: E078°10'30” Everest 1830). SOUNDARA RAJAN (1989 in GHOSH 1989, 1: 77 "Billa Surgam" entry) locates »Sanyasula-Gavi« without identified spatial relation »near Betamcherla and Panyam« but I have not seen the "Sanyasula" entry in volume 2. POSITION 1: MURTY (1974: 197 figure 1: Map showing the cave areas around Betamcherla …) indicates »(Sanyasula Gavi)« (in brackets) simply next to the place name of »Bugganipalle« (note 4) and this I interprete to indicate that MURTY (1974) did not know how to say expressively that he did not know where this cave actually is. POSITION 2: MURTY (1975: 133 figure 1), MURTY (1975-1976 plate 69 figure 1) and MURTY & THIMMA REDDY (1976: 215 figure 1) indicate »Sanyasula Gavi« simply next to »Bugganipalle« and thus at a most unlikely location less than half a kilometre due east of the village and in the level country north-west of the railway line. This spot corresponds to N15°28'20”: E078°10'50”: 390 m asl (Everest 1830) on the Survey of India sheet 57-i/03 (edition 1983). APPROACH 1: Sanyasula Gavi is probably easiest reached by travelling west from Betamcherla (railway station N15°26'50”: E078°08'55” Everest 1830). APPROACH 2: To reach the site from Banaganapalle (N15°18'45”: E078°13'30” Everest 1830) via Nandivargam (N15°25'20”: E078°19'10”: 215 m asl Everest 1830, Survey of India 57-I/07 edition 1981) involves a circuituous route touching the village of Ramatirtham (N15°26'25”: E078°17'10”: 232 m asl (Everest 1830, Survey of India 57-I/07 edition 1981) from where another 2 hrs walk is required: »First to the north [perhaps WNW] across fields covered with secondary calcite deposits [kankar, caliche formations], which is quarried, later to the west and along a stream called Sunkullama Gaddalu [B. V. Satyanarayana 1984.01.29 personal communication]. By and by a range of hill north of the stream and a hill called Danamalla Epullu [B. V. Satyanarayana 1984.01.29 personal communication] comes closer and a ravine from the north, which is somewhat narrower and deeper than the others nearby, eventually leads to the two caves« (GEBAUER 1984: 44). APPROACH 3 (PRASAD 1996): »Access to the Kurnool Caves is difficult due to the dissected terrain, rubble, and vegetation overgrowth. Other caves, such as Yaganti, Yerrazari Gabbi, and the most famous cave in this region, Sanyasuli Gavi, lie close to Billasurgam« (note 5). CAVE DESCRIPTION: Approaching from the south-west to north-east trending ravine below, the lowest of the three entrances is seen first. Being the largest (5 by 8 m wide and high) and centrally located, the first entrance is the most convenient. A short distance in, the second entrance branches of to the left (north) and the joint-controlled main gallery (5 by 5 m) runs at 30 m from the entrance into a stalagmite (speleothem) covered and calcite cemented breakdown which disconnects the upper and lower cave passages. A small lead, 1 by 1 m high and wide and 150 m long, branching of to the north-east and immediately taking a right angle turn to the south-east, was followed up to a constriction (0.2 by 0.2 m) without air movement. The upper cave is reached by climbing the cliff face outside the first entrance. An easy 4.5 m free-climb into the collapse entrance leads to the top of a scree slope from where the original hermit's cave starts. A perfectly horizontal passage (3 m wide, 2 m high) with a smooth floor enters at 50 m a 15 m wide, 20 m long and up to 8 m high chamber. On the north-eastern wall a calcite formation indicates the blocked through passage to the parallel cave below. At the south-eastern end of the chamber, a 2 m wide and high passage leads to the section called "shrine" with an assorment of stalactites and stalagmites (speleothems). The floor is neatly paved with slabs of flaggy limestone and a narrow continuation is eventually blocked by calcite deposits. CULTURAL HISTORY - archaeology: MURTY (1985: 195): In the Kurnool cave area, »… the cave occupations and open air occurrences of the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic represent short-term campsites (at Gollagutta, opposite Sanyasula Gavi and Muchhatla Swami Gavi), a transient encampment (MCG I = Muchchatla Chintamanu Gavi 1), an long-term residential base (MCG II) and fleeting transitory loci (sporadic nondescript confines with a very low artifact content on the plateaux).«CAVE CLIMATE: At noon on 29th January 1984 recorded H.D. Gebauer 11 ppm NH3 (Ammonia) in the very back of the cave and 22 ppm at the lowest point.
NOTE 1: »Buganpilly« (FOOTE 1884a: 31) and »Boganpalli« (FOOTE 1885: 235) is indicated as Bugganipalle (N15°28'20”: E078°10'30” Everest 1830) on Survey of India sheet 57-i/03 (edition 1983). NOTE 2: »Betumcherru« (FOOTE 1884a: 31) and »Baitumcherloo« (FOOTE 1884a: 28, 34) is indicated as Betamcherla (N15°26'50”: E078°08'55” Everest 1830) on Survey of India sheet 57-i/03 (edition 1983). NOTE 3: A year later, »Lieutenant [Henry Bruce] Foote and I [Robert Bruce] devoted the Christmas week [1884] to visit … A group of small caves lying three miles [5 km] north of Billa Surgam, and known as the Boganpalli caves« (FOOTE 1885: 235) but these are the caves in the –>Kistawa Kona. Having learned that Sanyasula Gavi is a sacred cave, the two Footes probably didn't even care to look at it because they were fully aware that archaeological »exploration« (destruction by excavation) of caves held sacred »is of course out of the question at present« (FOOTE 1884a: 33). NOTE 4: Bugganipalle N15°28'20”: E078°10'30” (Everest 1830) lies 4 km along the road north-east of Betamcherla (railway station N15°26'50”: E078°08'55” Everest 1830).NOTE 5: PRASAD (1996) places not only »Sanyasuli Gavi« (Sanyasula Gavi) but also –>Yerrazari Gabbi (N15°20'50”: E78°08') and the caves at –>Yaganti (N15°21': E78°08') in an unspecified spatial relation »close to Billasurgam« (–>Billa Surgam). This meaningless »close to« (PRASAD 1996: 30) means 11 km in a direct line south-southwest of Billa Surgam (N15°26'15”: E78°11'05”).
Documents
Bibliography 18/05/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1884 spring: Robert B. FOOTE (1884a: 34) had »… heard of a cave [no name mentioned] near Buganpilly, 3 miles [4.8 km] north-east of Betumcherru« which may have been the group of caves in the Krishnammakona or, perhaps, even the –>Sanyasula Gavi (Sinigasivani Gavi). 1884 December: FOOTE (1885: 235) had visited »a group of small caves [no name mentioned] lying 3 miles [4.8 km] north of Billa Surgam, and known as Boganpalli Caves« which seem to be rather the three or four Krishnammakona caves than –>Sanyasula Gavi (Sinigasivani Gavi). 1927: CAMMIADE (1927: 11) suggested »… the group referred to by Bruce Foote is a) is either in the canyon that runs close to the north of the railway line at mile 308 [kilometre 495.572] of the Guntakal Bezwada railway [–>Krishnammakona CAMMIADE 1927] b) or is the group that lies to the south of the line at mile 308 1/2 [kilometre 496.377] and known locally as the Kistawa Kona (valley)« but is indicated on the one-hand side as »Krishnammakona Temple« near N15°29'40”: E078°14'50” (Everest 1830) in the very top right corner of Survey of India sheet 57-1/03 (edition 1983) and on the other hand as »Krishnammakona RS« (railway station) near N15°30'07”: E078°15'02” (Everest 1830) in the very bottom left corner of SI sheet 57-i/06 (edition 1982). 1957-58: K. V. Soundara Rajan and R. V. Joshi made a trial excavation and found neither any cultural debris nor fossil bones (ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA: Report for 1957-58). 1975: Allegedly the »cave known as« but more likely just the cave name of »Sanyasula Gavi« had »become known to archaeologists« (MURTY, M. L. Krishna & REDDY, K. Thimma 1976: 214). 1984.01.29: H. D. Gebauer surveyed, guided by the school teacher B.V. Satyanarayana and assisted, despite of harvest season, by 23 villagers from Ramatirtham village, who were equipped with numerous juicy cucumbers (quite distracting in scorching heat) and one single flash light / electric torch (not that good). Thanks to the hospitality of B.V. Satyanarayana, born from Nandivargam, the site was approached in 1984 by a complex detour requiring a stay in the teacher's parent's village and house: At Banaganpalle, a bus heading for Nandyal was taken up to the roadside village of Nandivargam (N15°23': E078°20'). Walking from Nandivargam approximately north-east, the village Ramatirtam (Ramatirtham) was reached on bullock-cartable track. From Ramathirtam a two hour's walk towards north passed barren terrane with secondary calcite deposits (quarried for kankar to prepare chunam) and turned towards west to follow the quite fertile Sunkullama Gaddalu (valley). By and by the Donamala Epulu (range of hillocks), which is marked by ravines, was reached. One of the ravines, somewhat narrower and deeper than the neighbouring ones, led to the entrances of Sanyasi Gavi.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.9 | BUGGANIPALLE CAVES | ||
| 0.9 | SANYASI CAVE, Bugganipalle (Dutt 1981) | ||
| 3.9 | KOTTALA (Cave near) | ||
| 4.2 | KOTTALA GAVI | ||
| 4.5 | SINIGASIVANI GAVI | ||
| 4.6 | BILLA SURGAM | ||
| 4.8 | BILLA SURGAM 1: Charnel House | ||
| 4.9 | BILLA SURGAM: U-SHAPED CAVE | ||
| 4.9 | BILLA SURGAM 2: Purgatory Cave |