PERIYA MANDAPAM, Kerudavil

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

An irregularly shaped cave entrance (pothole) in more or less level country descends up to 5 or 6 m down to the more or less level floor of an irregularly shaped, mostly daylight-lit cave chamber with a few flowstone speleothems and one lateral continuation leading to a small daylight window (second entrance) in the most northern corner of the accessible part of the cave. At an unidentified date until recently (CEYLON TRAVELLER 1974: 249-250; 1983: 250-251) it was possible to pass by subterranean passages all the way from from Periya Mandapam to –>Sinna Mandapam. In 1974, and at least before 1983, the entrance to Periya Mandapam was still public. According to LISKA (1980), the young sinkholes and combined horizontal / vertical caves on the flat surface of the peninsula (e.g. like Periya Mandapam) result from recent slow uplift (note 1). ETYMOLOGY: The Tamil -periya mandapam- translates as great shelter (CEYLON TRAVELLER 1974: 249; 1983: 250) or upper, main, bigger, and large shelter (ote 2) and has been called or spelled, transcribed or edited and printed as grotte de Jaffna (SIFFRE 1975: 42) puits de Jaffna (SIFFRE 1975: 41 photograph) Cave Kerudavil (SASVÁRI & TEREK 1984: 109) Jaskyna Kerudavil (SASVÁRI & TEREK 1984: 109) Kerudavil Barlang (SASVÁRI 1978: 50 cave plan) Kerudavil Cave (SASVÁRI 1978: 50) Kerudavil Höhle (KUSCH 1973c: 23) Kerudawill Dry Cave (MITTER 1979a: 154) Periya Mandapam limestone cavern (CEYLON TRAVELLER (1974: ?, 1983: 131) Periya Mandapam, Kankesanturay (CEYLON TRAVELLER (1974: 248, 1983: 250) Periya Mandapam, Kerudawill (LISKA 1980: 63, 66-67, 69) Periya Mandapan, Kerudawill (LISKA 1980: 64) Perya Mandapam (SASVÁRI 1978: 49-50) Perya Mandapan (SASVÁRI & TEREK 1984: 108) Siberiya Mandapam pri Kerudavil (MITTER 1978: 147). SITUATION: East of Jaffna town and near the village of Kerudavil (note 3), which lies not far from Kankesanturai (N09°49': E080°02'), in a prominent ridge of rock and either well over 400 m (note 4) or almost 800 m (noe 5) in an unspecified direction from –>Sinna Mandapam, the corresponding small shelter (unidentified). POSITION: Visiting Kerudavil Wasama and the cave in January 1979, I marked the location of Periya Mandapam near N09°48'50”: E080°08'40” (±100 m, Everest 1830 coordinates) on the One Inch sheet -Point Pedro- (Survey Department 1959 edited 1971). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1961: The photograph titled Puits dans les calcaires miocenes de la presqu'île de Jaffna (Shaft in Miocene limestones on the Jaffna Peninsula) shows a view from the back corner of Periya Mandapam into the most daylight-lit part of the chamber where the trunk of a tree is visible which flourishes on the cave floor and grows out of the entrance (SIFFRE 1975: 41). SIFFRE (1975: 42) appears to give the show away by advertising les très belles grottes coralliennes de la presqu'île de Jaffna as if Periya Mandapam were a -very beautiful coral cave- (oops) instead of collector's item. CAVE DESCRIPTIONS 1974: … the limestonecaverns at Sinna and Periya Mandapam extending for close on half a mile [less than 804 m], showing glimpses of the limestone shelf on which Jaffna stands (CEYLON TRAVELLER 1974: ?; 1983: 131). On the Jaffna peninsula, … few caverns are actually known … but the best known by far are the caverns locally called Sinna [Mandapam] and Periya Mandapam not far from Kankesanturai. The two caverns … are well over quarter of a mile apart … (CEYLON TRAVELLER 1974: 248; 1983: 250). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1978: E barlangkok létrejöttekor nagy szerepet játszott a vertikális, helyenként a horizontáslis tektonika. Ezeken a gyenge helyeken utat talált a csapadékvíz a föld felszine alá, miközben a keskeny repedések a mészkö kémiai összetételétöl függöen szélesedtek. Függöleges kémények jöttek létre, melyek szabályosan kialakult vízszintes üregekkel kötödtek össze. Ilyen jellegü barlangok Kerudavil mellett a Sinna és Perya Mandapan falucskák között találhatók (SASVÁRI 1978: 49-50). SASVARI (1978: 50) gives a cve plan with four cross sections of Kerudavil-barlang and Kerudavil Cave. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1979: The labyrinthine, 40 m long, 4 to 6 m below the surface, Sucha jaskyna pri Kerudawill (Dry Cave by Kerudawill) (MITTER 1979a: 154-155) is said to once having been connected (by a fabulous tunnel) with Sibiyeria Mandapan (sic!) or –>Sinna Mandapam. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1980: LISKA (1980) mentions the variously spelled Periya Mandapam and Periya Mandapan (sic) while describing some aspects of the Jaffna karst with head-born abstractions which explain little and refer to similarly fabricated concepts reminiscent of the Caribbean island of Cuba in the West Indies (Central American Atlantic). To corroborate his hypothesis, LISKA (1980: 67 Obr. 3) gives a photograph which shows (without scale) the mouth of an allegedly artificial well, which, apart from having been noticed in the same vicinity has nothing to do with Periya Mandapam. CAVE POTENTIAL - fabulous tunnel: Periya Mandapam and –>Sinna Mandaam are well over quarter of a mile [402.3 m] apart, but until recently it was possible to pass by subterranean passages all the way from one to the other (CEYLON TRAVELLER 1974: 248; 1983: 250). On the other hand, … the limestone caverns at Sinna and Periya Mandapam extending for close on half a mile [less than 804 m], show glimpses of the limestone shelf on which Jaffna stands (CEYLON TRAVELLER 1974: ?; 1983: 131). CAVE LIFE: SASVÁRI & TEREK (1984: 110) appear to dedicate a paragraph (in Czech) to aspects of cave climate and cave fauna mentioning, as far as I can see, recent bat guano, Prynicus lunatus (Pedipalpi), Orthoptera, Opiliones, and Diptera.ve plan with four cross sections of Kerudavil-barlang and Kerudavil Cave. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1979: The labyrinthine, 40 m long, 4 to 6 m below the surface, Sucha jaskyna pri Kerudawill (Dry Cave by Kerudawill) (MITTER 1979a: 154-155) is said to once having been connected (by a fabulous tunnel) with Sibiyeria Mandapan (sic!) or –>Sinna Mandapam. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1980: LISKA (1980) mentions the variously spelled Periya Mandapam and Periya Mandapan (sic) while describing some aspects of the Jaffna karst with head-born abstractions which explain little and refer to similarly fabricated concepts reminiscent of the Caribbean island of Cuba in the West Indies (Central American Atlantic). To corroborate his hypothesis, LISKA (1980: 67 Obr. 3) gives a photograph which shows (without scale) the mouth of an allegedly artificial well, which, apart from having been noticed in the same vicinity has nothing to do with Periya Mandapam. CAVE POTENTIAL - fabulous tunnel: Periya Mandapam and –>Sinna Mandave plan with four cross sections of Kerudavil-barlang and Kerudavil Cave. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1979: The labyrinthine, 40 m long, 4 to 6 m below the surface, Sucha jaskyna pri Kerudawill (Dry Cave by Kerudawill) (MITTER 1979a: 154-155) is said to once having been connected (by a fabulous tunnel) with Sibiyeria Mandapan (sic!) or –>Sinna Mandapam. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1980: LISKA (1980) mentions the variously spelled Periya Mandapam and Periya Mandapan (sic) while describing some aspects of the Jaffna karst with head-born abstractions which explain little and refer to similarly fabricated concepts reminiscent of the Caribbean island of Cuba in the West Indies (Central American Atlantic). To corroborate his hypothesis, LISKA (1980: 67 Obr. 3) gives a photograph which shows (without scale) the mouth of an allegedly artificial well, which, apart from having been noticed in the same vicinity has nothing to do with Periya Mandapam. CAVE POTENTIAL - fabulous tunnel: Periya Mandapam and –>Sinna Mandaam are well over quarter of a mile [402.3 m] apart, but until recently it was possible to pass by subterranean passages all the way from one to the other (CEYLON TRAVELLER 1974: 248; 1983: 250). On the other hand, … the limestone caverns at Sinna and Periya Mandapam extending for close on half a mile [less than 804 m], show glimpses of the limestone shelf on which Jaffna stands (CEYLON TRAVELLER 1974: ?; 1983: 131). CAVE LIFE: SASVÁRI & TEREK (1984: 110) appear to dedicate a paragraph (in Czech) to aspects of cave climate and cave fauna mentioning, as far as I can see, recent bat guano, Prynicus lunatus (Pedipalpi), Orthoptera, Opiliones, and Diptera.