PANCHALINGALASWAMI GUHA, Pasumanpalli
15.159700,77.786100
Description
A 5 m wide and 3 m high entrance gives access to a flight of steps descending into to a chamber (15 m wide, 6 m high, 15 m long) characterised by an artificially improved terrace with a man-made floor half way down. The ceiling lowers abruptly to 2 m and rises 8 m further in at second chamber (8 m wide, 5 m high, 10 m long) with an artificially improved, 5 m deep well. The solitary passage continues, initially 5 m wide and 2 m high with stalactites and stalagmites (speleothems), and deteriorates into low crawlway passages. The overall appearance of the temple cave sacred to Shiva is mainly sooted and soiled. Unfortunately, the sacred status does no good to the cave. ETYMOLOGY: Sri Panchalingalaswami is his Honourable Quintuple / Five-fold Stalagmite's "swami" --a »title of respect meaning 'lord of the self'; given to initiated Hindu monks« (LONELY PLANET, India 1997: 1147; 2005: 1112)..SITUATION (note 1): Indicated as »Cave« along with »Annual fair (Feb)« near N15°09'35”: E077°47'11” (Everest 1830) on the Survey of India sheet 57-E/16 (edition 1977) and about a kilometre on foot east of the village of »Pasumanpalli« (Ramaswami Reddy 1984.01.22 personal communication), which is indicated as »Payasamrangareddipalle (Narayanapuram)« on the Survey of India sheet 57-E/16 (edition 1977) on the north-western flank of the Erramala Hills. The cave entrance itself is obscured in a cluster of religious buildings including a devalam (temple). CULTURAL HISTORY - fabulous tunnel: Jerome Perrin (2009.08.29 Mss) tells me that »people remember of you and said the German caver went very far into the cave and could even get out through Gopama Gawi !! Some legends develop quite quickly …« The fabulous tunnel connecting Panchalingalaswami Guha (N15°09'35”: E077°47'10” Everest 1830) with –>Gopama Gavi (N15°11': E077°48' Everest 1830) covers a linear distance of about 3 km in a direct line approximately NNE.
NOTE 1: In January 1984 I reached the site by travelling 13.5 km along the road approximately north and north-west (towards Dhone N15°25': E77°53') from Rayalacheruvu (also: Rayalcheruvu N15°04': E77°49' nima.mil/geonames, accessed 16.11.2003) on AMS sheet ND43-04 Bellary (U502 series, 1961 edition) and on the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 108 B3) in Anantapur district and on the South Central Railway.
Histoire
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1984.01.22: H. D. Gebauer and Ramaswami Reddy visited, mapped and explored the cave in the course of a day's excursion from Kolimigundla. 2009.08: »I'm just back from a few days around Belum cave … Chandrapalle cave (near Dhone) … Gopama Gawi … Finally we went into Panchalingalaswami guha, many bats inside« (Jerome Perrin, Hyderabad, 2009.08.29 personal correspondence).
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.0 | GOPAMA GAVI | ||
| 3.6 | KURUVA BALI GAVI | ||
| 6.0 | LANGU GAVI | ||
| 6.9 | CHANDRAPALLE CAVE | ||
| 13.2 | Kona Rameshvaram Daddi Guha | ||
| 14.3 | MUNAGAMANU GAVI | ||
| 15.8 | JUVVIMANI GAVI | ||
| 17.1 | GOOTY CAVERN (Newbold 1845) | ||
| 18.6 | KAMBHAGIRISWAMI HOLE |