BILLA SURGAM

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 23/03/2016

In spite of about 200 m of true cave passages, a large part of the »magnificent caverns« (KENNEDY, K A R 1977: 101) forming the Billa Sorgam (note 1) is a partly unroofed and hence partly daylight-lit cave ruin, which currently consists of a generally south-north trending but meandering gorge (on average 15 m to 20 m wide, 20 m high, some 250 m long) with a seasonal streambed (note 2), which is spanned by three major natural bridges (note 3) and joined by a few entirely dark caves passages which represent relic tributary cave passages abandoned by flowing water. Archaeologists consider not only tributary passages (Charnel House, Purgatory, Fairy Chamber) but also some subdivisions (Cathedral, Chapter House) as individual »caves« but in the speleological sense of the word these are cave passages. Thanks to the efforts of diggers employed by archaeologists, not only »quite a bit of earth was moved from one place to another« (KENNEDY, K A R 1977: 101) but also speleothems were removed. Thus, some aspects of the original state of conservation has been partly restored (Argh!). In other, politically less correct words: Much of the infilling has been destroyed. ETYMOLOGY: »However familiar the name Billa Surgam may be to those who take interest in Indian prehistory, the name is unknown in the district [note 4] and the very existence of the cave is hardly known outside the limits of Kottala. In Kottala the caves are called Baljivargam Gavi by some and Baljigam Vanka by others. Gavi in the local dialect means a cave and vanka means a water-course and has reference to the stream issuing from the cave. Baljivargam and Baljigam seem to be corrupt variants of Billa Surgam which itself is compounded of the Telugu word billam meaning a cave and the Sanskrit suranga which also means cave« (CAMMIADE, L A 1926: 175). PRASAD & YADAGIRI (1986 for 1980-1981: 72): Either Robert Bruce or Henry Bruce a.k.a. »Bruce Foote named these caves [i.e. part of the Billa Surgam] from east to west [sic!] as Charnel House, Purgatory Cave, Cathedral Cave and Chapter House.« HASLAM, M et al. (2010: 1): »The Billa Surgam, or Billa Surangam … [is] named through a combination of the Telugu billam and the Sanskrit suranga, both meaning ‘cave’ …« HASLAM, M et al. (2010: 3): »From north to south the caves are known as Charnel House, Purgatory, Cathedral, the North and South Chapels, and Chapter House, with intervening sections named the Transept, Gothic Archway and the Inner and Outer Courts (Figure 2). Incompletely explored passageways extend into the rock from the interior of several of these caves, with other dissolution chambers located along these passages (e.g. the ‘Fairy Chamber’ extending off Cathedral Cave).« GEOGRAPHY: Billa Surgam is a »… karst formation within bluish-grey fine-grained Narji limestone, part of the Cuddapah Basin, which is itself comprised of sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Cuddapah and Kurnool Super Groups [MURTY & THIMMA REDDY 1976]. These include sandstones, shales, and quartzites, which are visible in exposures and on tracks leading to the caves, as well as on the surrounding land surfaces. Limestone for building purposes is actively quarried around both Kottala and Betamcherla. The area is also used for pastoral activities and dry-farming agriculture; it is representative of a semi-arid tropical landscape with an average rainfall of 700 mm per annum and anthropogenically degraded vegetation dominated by Albizia and Acacia species [MURTY, M L K 1985]. The modern wild fauna is limited to genera of intermediate size, such as Hystrix, Viverra, Lepus, Felis and Manis [PRASAD 1996]. The Betamcherla area has a large number of limestone caves, shelters and crevices, of which the Billa Surgam complex is among the largest and most extensively investigated« (HASLAM, M et al. 2010: 1-2). POSITIONS: Compare the file Billa Surgam positions.fp5. POSITION 2011: Near (unspecified precision error) »N 15° 26,126'; E 78° 11.131' [N15°26'07.6”: E078°11'07.9”]« (unspecified map datum, unidentified precision error, LANE et al. 2011: 1819). POSITION 2010.1: Near (unspecified precision error) »78°11'7.1”: 15°26'13.1”« (WGS84 in: Dar, Perrin et al. 2011.02.02 Mss table 1: C-14) or near N15°26'13.1”: E078°11'07.1” (unidentified map datum possibly Everest 1830) equalling N15°26'08.8”: E078°11'11.4” (WGS84) POSITION 2010.2: N15 26.153’ E78 11.122’ (HASLAM, M et al. 2010: 1) equalling N15°26'09.2”: E078°11'07.3” and POSITION 1982: Apparently near (±250 m) N15°26'10”: E078°11'10”: circa 350 m asl (Everest 1830, H D Gebauer 2010 after Survey of India sheet 57-I/03 edition 1983). POSITION 1974: Near (±250 m) N15°26'15”: E078°11'05” (unidentified map datum probably Everest 1830, MURTY, M L K 1974: 197 figure 1: Map showing the cave areas around Betamcherla …) POSITION 1884: Near (±1.25 km) N15°25'19.9”: E078°15'53” (Everest 1830) if the position of »Billa Surgam … is a mile [1608 m] north-north-east [022.5 degree = 25 grade] of that assigned by Newbold [1844]« (FOOTE, R B 1884a: 28). POSITION 1844: Near (±1.25 km) »Lat 15°25', Long 78°15', Southern India« (NEWBOLD, T J 1844). SITUATION 2010: »… the Billa Surgam caves in the Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh (N15 26.153’ E78 11.122’) … or Billa Surangam caves are approximately 5 km from the town of Betamcherla [note 6], and 1 km south-east of the village of Kinda Kanama Kottala [note 7] in Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh. … the complex lies on the southern edge of a valley that is located on the eastern side of a low area of the Eastern Ghats« (HASLAM, M et al. 2010: 1 referring to ALLCHIN, F R & ALLCHIN, B 1962 and CAMMIADE, L A 1926).SITUATION 1996: PRASAD (1996: 30 figure 1: Map showing cave areas around Betamcherla, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh, S. India) indicates »Billasurgum« with a character Omega-like cave symbol about 1 km in a direct line approximately south-east of »Kottala« (compare –>Kottala Guhalu) and about 2 km in a direct line approximately north-west of another character Omega-like cave symbol (unidentified). SITUATION 1981 (H D Gebauer): At linear distances of 4.1 km approximately ESE (3.8 km east and 1.5 km south) from the railway station at Betamcherla and almost 1 km approximately south-east (730 m east and 600 m south) from the village of K. Kottala. APPROACH 1981: From the railway station at Betamcherla cross to the south-eastern side and proceed 2 km, initially across level country, due east to fork near N15°26'41”: E078°09'57” (Everest 1830). Turn south (right) and climb across a low col exposing bright yellow coloured ochre sediments and proceed another 1.5 km a little south by east to Kottala. Beyond the village, keep on heading generally eastwards but turn south (right) for the north-facing mouth of the Billa Surgam gorge near N15°26'05”: E078°11'12” (Everest 1830). Walk upstream into the meandering and eventually partly roofed gorge where the gaping cave entrances are difficult to miss even in deep snow conditions (H D Gebauer). SITUATION 1980-1981: »The Billa Surgam Cave lies on the southern side of the valley of "Yerra Konda" a low rising hillcok 5 m south-east of Betamcherla« (PRASAD & YADAGIRI 1986: 72) SITUATION 1980: About 5 km south-east of Betamcherla and about 1 km south-east of Kottala, the gorge opens on the south side of a narrow valley at the eastern side of the Yerra Konda, a range of low hills and plateaus that form part of the western rim of the Kurnool basin (THIMMA REDDY, K 1980: 206). SITUATION 1974: »Approximately 4.5 km south-east of Betamcherla« (MURTY, M L K 1974: 196). MURTY, M L K (1974: 197 figure 1: Map showing cave areas around Betamcherla, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh) indicates »Billasurgum« (sic!) as a black dot about a kilometre south-east of Kottala. SITUATION 1927: The »Billa Surgam caves … are situated in the limits of the village of Kottala about three miles to the south-east of Betamcherla railway station« (CAMMIADE, L A 1927: 7). SITUATION 1926: »A railway line runs now within three miles [4.8 km] of the caves. The nearest railway station is Betamcherla on the Guntakal-Bezwada branch of the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway. A rough cart track leads eastwards from the station to a petty jungle village named Kottala and the caves are about half a mile [0.8 km] of the village (sheet 57 1/3 of the map published in 1923 by the Survey of India --scale 1"--1 mile)« (CAMMIADE, L A 1926: 175). SITUATION 1906: »These caves are situated in the Yerrakonda hills, near Billa Surgam, about 35 miles [56 km] south of the Tungabhadra, in a region of Cuddapah formation« (LOGAN 1906: 37). SITUATION 1885: »… in a desolate out-of-the-way valley out of reach of civilisation and all society … which is no small trial to a young man fresh from all the gaiety and life of Bombay« (FOOTE, R B 1885: 235)SITUATION 1884: »Billa Surgam lies on the south side of a narrow valley opening on the east side of the Yerra Konda or Red Hills, the range of low hills and plateaus forming the western side of the Kurnool basin. Its position is a mile north-north-east of that assigned by Newbold [note 8], and it lies 3 miles [4.8 km] east-south-east of Betumcherru (Baitumcherloo) in the south-eastern corner of Nandyal taluq« (FOOTE, R B 1884a: 28). SITUATION 1877: »In the answer I received (dated 10th January 1877) from the Collector of Karnúl, this officer says: "There is no place near Banaganpilli [Banaganapalle N15°18'45”: E078°13'30” Everest 1830] which goes by the name of Billa-Surgam and noted for any caves containing fossil stones. There is, however, a village called Bilum [Belum N15°06'40”: E078°07'30” Everest 1830], 7 miles south-east of Owk [N15°12'30”: E078°07'00” Everest 1830] in the Koilkuntla taluk, containing some caves [i.e. –>Belum Guhalu], but the Deputy Collector who inspected them says they contain only slate stones." This position would be about 12 miles [19.3 km] to south-by-west of Banaganpilli. Both these spots are in the Jamalmadgu limestone, of Messrs. King and Foote's classification [KING, W 1872], described by Newbold as the 'diamond limestone' « (MEDLICOTT, H B 188a: 4). SITUATION 1844: »… the caves of Billa Soorgum, Lat. 15°25', Long. 78°15', Southern India … are situated in the hills composed of the diamond limestone …« (NEWBOLD, T J 1844: 610) CAVE DESCRIPTION: At least half of the trunk passage's ceiling has collapsed. Only the relics of not much more than two natural bridges, separated by a 30 by 15 m wide daylight window, are left to cover some 10 and 30 m of the main passage. The 30 odd metres of CHARNEL HOUSE starts with a 9 m wide and 15 m high opening which successively decreases in size towards the cleft-controlled distal end which is crossed by an orthogonal cleft. In spring 1883 a 4.6 m thick infilling was removed (FOOTE, R B 1884a: 30). PURGATORY CAVE: Previously penetrable only for a limited distance, had Henry B. Foote in March 1884 some 100 m of this passage cleared from infillings. At 4.0 m below the original sedimentary surface, a calcite floor covered 0.9 to 1.2 m of red clay. When surveyed in 1981 was the Purgatory at the confluence with the trunk passage 6 m wide and 8 m high. Till now is soon decreases in size and runs into numerous too tight tight side passages. The niche nicknamed CATHEDRAL CAVE (28 m wide, up to 20 m high and some 20 horizontal metres deep) is furnished with an impressive assemblage of flowstone and stalactites aptly christened 'High Altar' by the original explorers. This has been excavated in late April and May 1884 (Foote 1884b: 201). Between December 1884 and May 1885 a 4.9 m thick sedimentary layer has been removed by digging, blasting and breaking up with cold chisels (Foote 1985: 228). In the southern corner of the Cathedral Cave a wide shaft was sunken to a depth of 11.3 m. This revealed the existence of a 17 m long cave passage called the CORRIDOR which connected to an east-west running passage forming a domed chamber (before the excavation of the floor was commenced: 7.5 m by 3.5 m and 3 m in the centre). At the eastern extremity of the chamber, the roof of the cave sloped down to to about 0.6 m above the floor, and here occurred helictites described as a »perfect forest of most beautiful little stalactites, some forming delicate little pillars, others branching off into tree-like forms as ramified as the most elaborate corals« (FOOTE 1885: 228). To this chamber Henry B. Foote gave the name FAIRY CHAMBER. The western end of Fairy Chamber was filled with earth, the eastern end was not closer inspected, and a continuation of The Corridor on the southern wall of Fairy chamber was left untouched. CAVE DESCRIPTION 2011: A »series of deep sedimentary traps extending off a winding limestone dissolution channel« (LANE et al. 2011). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2010: »The Billa Surgam, or Billa Surangam caves are karst formations within bluish-grey fine-grained Narji limestone, part of the Cuddapah Basin, which is itself comprised of sedimentary and igneous rocks of the Cuddapah and Kurnool Super Groups [MURTY & THIMMA REDDY 1976]. These include sandstones, shales, and quartzites, which are visible in exposures and on tracks leading to the caves, as well as on the surrounding land surfaces. … The complex comprises two main caves and several smaller cavities opening onto a connected set of deep, steep-walled gorges. From north to south the caves are known as Charnel House, Purgatory, Cathedral, the North and South Chapels, and Chapter House, with intervening sections named the Transept, Gothic Archway and the Inner and Outer Courts (Figure 2). Incompletely explored passageways extend into the rock from the interior of several of these caves, with other dissolution chambers located along these passages (e.g. the ‘Fairy Chamber’ extending off Cathedral Cave). All the caves have large entrances relative to the size of the main chambers, with Charnel House and Cathedral Caves the largest in the complex. The Billa Surgam gorge is up to c. 30 m deep, and has at its base a meandering seasonal watercourse marked at present by large rolled cobbles and boulders. Occasional rock arches span the gorge up to 20 m above the base, remnants of a roof that would have once covered the whole cave system [THIMMA REDDY 1977 published 1980]. Upper portions of the gorge walls are in places rounded and smoothed, marking the likely location of former sinkholes and indicating that the original roof of the complex has collapsed in stages. Prior to roof collapse the stream that currently passes through the complex would have run across the top of the caves, with simultaneous dissolution of the underlying limestone deposits. The connected galleries have widened over time through lateral corrosion [PRASAD & YADAGIRI 1986]« (HASLAM, M et al. 2010: 1, 2-3). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1986: PRASAD & YADAGIRI (1986) gave a summarising description of Billa Sorgam. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1981: DUTT, N V B S (1981: 1) just about mentions »the picturesque Beljiggma or Bilasorangam near Kottala …« CAVE DESCRIPTION 1980-1981: »A group of five cave openings are joined by natural arches. The cave floors are at different heights and are above the level of the dry stream bed which flows into the valley« (PRASAD & YADAGIRI 1986 for 1980-1981: 72). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1977: KENNEDY, K A R (1977) discusses aspects of Pleistocene and post-Pleistonce »man in India« and regarded the »Billa Surgam Cave complex« a »magnificent cavern« (page 101).CAVE DESCRIPTION 1975: A quick look at »una apposita vetrina dell'India Museum di Calcutta« (a showcase in the Indian Museum at Calcutta) enabled MARZOLLA (1975: 74) to discover not only that natural caves containing relics of Pleistocene fauna have been studied in the State of Andhra Pradesh, South-Central India, but also that the most important caves of »Karnul« (sic!) are Charnel House Cave, »Chatedral« (sic!) or Cathedral Cave, Purgatory Cave and the very large Billa Surgam Cave, allegedly measuring 100 by 100 m or, more likely, 30 feet in square (note 9). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1927: The »… Billa Surgam caves … adjoin each other and it is probable that they were originally parts of a single large cave« (CAMMIADE, L A 1927: 7). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1926: »The caves are in limestone rock stratified horizontally in loose flag-like beds. As a result of this loose horizontal stratification the roofs of caverns formed in the rock have a tendency to fall in while the walls become vertical. This tendency is specially marked near the entrances of the caverns where loosening of slabs from the roof proceeds quicker than in the inner depths. Gradually the entrances to the caverns have risen higher and higher until finally the roofs have collapsed altogether leaving what Bruce Foote has described as "deep but very short canyons". The entrance to these canyons was obviously once the entrance to the caves themselves. The stalactites adhering to the walls of the canyons and the character of the debris that litters the floors leave no doubt on this point« (CAMMIADE, L A 1926: 175-176). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1906: »These caves … near Billa Surgam … three in number, known as the Cathedral, Charnel House and Purgatory caves … extend some hundreds of feeet into the hill, ending in narrow passages through which the water must have entered, and have the appearance of considerable antiquity, being above the present drainage levels and full of stalagmite in enormous masses« (LOGAN 1906: 37). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1894: MARTEL (1894: 542 note 1) discusses principles of »ponts naturels« (natural bridges) on a global scale and interpretes LYDEKKER, R (1886b, with cave plan): »Les petites cavernes de Billa Surgam (gouvernement de Madras, Inde) se composent de trois profonds et courts petits cañons réunis par des arcades naturelles; les grottes s'ouvrent sur les cañons à différents niveaux, et kes cañons eux-memes ont été jadis des cavernes; en temps des pluie un courant les traverse« (note 10). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1884b: »It is impossible to give any closer idea of this remarkable cave without illustrations, which it is hoped will be forthcoming to accompany the final report on the cave work« (FOOTE, R B 1884b: 201). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1884a: »Billa Surgam … may be described as consisting of three [consecutive and] deep but very short "cañons" joined by natural arches. The various caves open into the cañons at different levels. The cañons themselves were once caves of large size, the roofs of which have fallen in, in great part. The ground plan of the place may, for sake of illustration, be compared to a rather distorted figure of 3, the two principal caves being situate on the right side of the upper and lower parts of the figure. The floor of these two caves is considerably above the level of the bed of the stream, which in wet weather flows through the cañons. … both, and especially the larger one, are well furnished with stalactites, and in the latter it is probable that a large quantity of stalagmite will be found under the present floor. In both cases this is formed of a loose blackishgrey soil, largely made up of the dropping of birds, bats, and other animals« (FOOTE, R B 1884a: 28). »Both at the Yerra Zari Gabbi and Billa Surgam the walls of the passages are delicately fretted by the action of water trickling down their surface, and the beautiful sections of the limestone thus prepared afford a very strong proof of its unfossiliferous character. If organisms even of very delicate nature existed in it, some few would most assuredly have been worked out by the action of the flowing water which has that effect in so many other places. I examined the cave walls, as far as they were within reach, very carefully, and saw not the faintest indication of any fossil« (FOOTE, R B 1984a: 32). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1844: »… the Caves of Billa Soorgum … From the roofs of some depend clusters of stalactites, while the sides and floor are encrusted with stalagmite, covered with an ammoniacal and nitr