WAH SANG (Krem)
25.208300,91.666700
Description
Two vertical cave entrances in sandstone descend into a rift cave (pothole) of gravitational origin. The first entrance lies west of a gully and on the southern side of a path that runs generally west-east along what may be considered the Laitkynsew terrace (and ). The second entrance lies north of the path and east of the gully. ETYMOLOGY: The origin of the Khasi cave name "Krem Wah Sang" was not identified but said to mean »Forbidden Stream Cave« (Kharpran Daly, B D 1995.11.19 personal communication). This is probably the case as the Khasi noun "wah" is one of the words for a »stream« of water (note 1) and adjective "sang" has been translated as »sacrilegious, forbidden; taboo; unlawful, etc.« (note 2). Somebody, however, decided to turn the reasonable and straightforward "wah" into a "wah um" or stream riverSITUATION: Unknown. The assumed GPS position for the cave entrance near (±2500 m) N25°12'30”: E091°40' / N25.208333°: E91.666667° (WGS84) has been picked from the plain air and is, at its best, representative (note 3). All in all, the two cave entrances are suspected to lie somewhere south-east (?) of Laitkynsew village (±250 m N25°13'00": E091°39'30” WGS84) and at a walking distance of about 20 minutes along the west-east running path along a grassy terrace, and some 100 m beyond a 2nd concrete foot bridge. CAVE DESCRIPTION: A so-called »the first« cave entrance has been interpreted as an open rift and gives the impression of requiring an estimated 40 m long rope to descend. The second entrance is a surface rift that leads to a 3 m climb down (climbable with sling) into 20 m of rift passage leading to a »greasy slab« of rock resting at the top of a 24 m pitch down into a canyon passage with 106 m of horizontal cave passage that eventually gives access to a choke. Water disappearing into this cave is locally reputed to reappear at an unidentified spot, which is said to lie over a kilometre away down slope.
NOTE 1: »Amongst the Khasis hills are all of them masculine, but to rivers is usually attributed the feminine gender« (GURDON, P R T 1906: 161). duit stream (SINGH, N 1906: 73). um river (SINGH, N 1906: 244). um bah flood (SINGH, N 1906: 242); big stream (SINGH, N 1906: 242); large river (SINGH, N 1906: 244). wah mountain stream (ALLEN, W J 1858: 61); river (OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxi); river (GURDON, P R T 1906: 206) river (SINGH, N 1906: 244) wah bah large river (SINGH, N 1906: 244); river (SINGH, N 1920: 444); river (BLAH, E 2007: 257). wah duit brook (SINGH, N 1920: 54; BLAH, E 2007: 37); rill (SINGH, N 1920: 443; BLAH, E 2007: 256); streamlet (SINGH, N 1906: 244; SINGH, N 1920: 500; BLAH, E 2007: 290); runnel. NOTE 2: "kaba sang" (Khasi; noun), »a taboo« (SINGH, N 1906: 180; SINGH, N 1920: 516; BLAH, E 2007: 300), »a social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing« (origin [late 18th century] from "tabu" (Tongan), set apart, forbidden (introduced into English by Captain Cook), from "tapu" (Polynesian), consecrated and magical, untouchable [virgin]; in German: »geweiht, magisch, unberührbar« (Reichstätter, Louisa 2010 feb. 18, Die Zeit Nr. 8). "ba sang" (Khasi, adjective) has been translated as forbidden (SINGH, N 1906: 180); incestuous (SINGH, N 1906: 180); inviolable (SINGH, N 1920: 271); profane (SINGH, N 1920: 403); sacrilegious (SINGH, N 1906: 180); sacrilegious (SINGH, N 1906: 180); taboo (SINGH, N 1906: 180; BLAH, E 2007: 300); unhallowed (SINGH, N 1920: 555), unholy (SINGH, N 1920: 556) and unlawful (SINGH, N 1920: 558). "s'ang" (Khasi; transitive or intransitive verb), a contraction of "syang" (SINGH, N 1906: 180) »to roast; to toast« (SINGH, N 1906: 180); »to bake« (SINGH, N 1920: 35). NOTE 3: »We took very little information about this cave except for the survey information that continues from the final 1995 survey point (which I fixed in 1995). Consequently I don't have a GPS position, however, there is a chance that Roger took one whilst he waited at the surface. I will see if one is present in the GPS information Roger is to send me« (Brooks, Simon J 2000.05.30 Mss) and that's it.
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.9 | RIAT KROH, Maw Siang | ||
| 1.3 | WAH RIT (Krem) | ||
| 1.3 | THEP MAWBAH (Krem) | ||
| 1.3 | BRED BSEIÑ (Krem) | ||
| 1.3 | LAITKYNSEW RESORT SINK | ||
| 1.5 | SYNRANG, Laitkynsew (Krem) | ||
| 1.5 | LAITKYNSEW HALFWAY SINK | ||
| 1.5 | JASEW 2 (Krem) | ||
| 1.5 | JASEW 3 (Krem) |