PANNIAN MALAI CAVE
9.967200,77.982500
Description
A north-west facing entrance (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1111) or a vertical cave entrance (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1113) leads to an unspecified cave (note 1) of dubious nature in unspecified rock (note 2), which contains a dark zone more than 10 m from the entrance (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1112 table 1) and is probably in granite. CAVE DESCRIPTION 1 (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1111): »Pannian (C2) … faces the north-west.« CAVE DESCRIPTION 2 (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1113): The entrance to this »Pannian Cave (C2) faces the zenith and thereby receives more light compared to the other caves [C1 or –>Samanar Cave, C3 or –>Kanavai Katha Bootham Cave 1, C4 or –>Kanavai Katha Bootham Cave 2, C5 or –>Ramanathapuram Cave, and C6 or –>Veerasihamani Cave].« CAVE DESCRIPTION 3: »(2) Pannian cave, (3) KKB cave I and (4) KKB cave II are towards to [more likely: are facing] the north-west« (KOILRAJ, MARIMUTHU et al 1999). SITUATION: Adjacent to the first –>Kanavai Katha Bootham Cave (USMAN 1986: 123), and near a pass (note 3) that crosses the Nagamalai ridge at a distance of 8 km (USMAN 1986: 123) or 10 km (KOILRAJ, MARIMUTHU et al 1999) from the Madurai Kamaraj University campus (note 4). SITUATION 2: »(2) Pannian cave, (3) KKB cave I and (4) KKB cave II are towards to the north-west and are at a distance of about 10 km from the Madurai Kamaraj University campus (9°58'N, 78°10'E)« (KOILRAJ, MARIMUTHU et al 1999). »Pannian« (USMAN 1986; KOILRAJ et al. 1999) appears to be the village of »Panniyan« indicated near N09°48'07”: E077°58'00” (Everest 1830): 190 m asl on Survey of India sheet 58-G/13 (1971 edition) and AMS sheet NC43-12 Rajapalayam (U502 series, 1958 edition). CAVE CLIMATE: According to KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU (1998: 1111) and KOILRAJ et al (1999), it were MARIMUTHU & CHANDRASHEKARA (1983), MARIMUTHU (1984: 352-357), USMAN (1981 PhD thesis) and HABERSETZER (1983 PhD thesis), who recorded temperature, humidity, relative humidity and light intensity) for a period of one year (September 1997 to August 1998). In the dark zone, more than 10 m from the entrance, the temperature (27°C) and humidity (95%) showed relatively constant values (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1112 table 1). CAVE LIFE: »Efforts to locate the banded bats [Rhinopoma hardwickei hardwickei GRAY 1831 banded in »KKB Cave« or –>Kanavai Katha Bootham Cave 1] during this period [January 1979 through to December 1980] at other alternate sites resulted in only one banded bat being recaptured in an adjacent cave at Pannian Malai. This suggests that R. hardwickei form relatively stable population showing great loyality to their original roosting site« (USMAN 1986: 123). To investigate algae (KOILRAJ et al 1999) and fungal diversity of cave soil (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1111) saw A.John Koilraj to have soil samples (bat guano) collected sometime between September 1997 and August 1998. KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU (1998: 1112 table 2) report that a certain »Mrs. Elizabeth« (no name mentioned) reared seven species of algae from soil samples collected in the daylight-lit area 0 to 5 m from the entrance: Three species of Chlorophyceae (Chlorella sp., Chlorococcum sp., Scenedesmus sp.) and four species of Bacillariophyceae (Cyclotella sp., Navicula sp., Nitzschia sp., Surirella sp.). KOILRAJ et al. (1999) say the cave is is »occupied exclusively by a colony of carnivorous bat Megaderma lyra« (Chiroptera: Microchiroptera). CHANDRASHEKARAN (2003b): »The Indian false vampire Megaderma lyra echolocates prey (frogs) by 'listening' to prey-generated noise on land (passive mode) and by active echolocation of the frogs in water (active mode). The eyes of most insectivorous bats are very small and are unlikely to participate in vision in the darkness of the night. It is suggested that eyes may participate in detecting dawn, sunrise, dusk and sunset, thus measuring daylength over the seasons of the year.«
NOTE 1: This item has been reported as »Pannian (C2)« (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1111), »(2) Pannian Cave« (KOILRAJ, MARIMUTHU et al. 1999), »Pannian Cave« (KOILRAJ et al. 1999), and »Pannian Malai Cave« (USMAN 1986). NOTE 2: »Madura District … The rocks of Madura district consist chiefly of foliated biotite gneiss, probably in reality a gneissose granite, in which are amasses of granular quartz rock, also probably of igneous origin. At certain localities, such as Pandalugudi and Tirumal, bands of coarsely crystalline limestone occur in the gneiss. Charnocktite is found in the the western part of the District, the Palni hills being entirely composed of that rock. In the Varushanad Hills are hornblende schists and granulites, penetrated by veins of mica-bearing pegmatite. Subrecent calcine grits of marine origin form a fringe along the coast from Cape Comorin to the channel between the mainland and the island of Pamban. Laterite covers a considerable part of the District. Further particulars will be found in Mr. Bruce Foote's account [i.e. FOOTE 1883] in Memoirs, Geological Survey of India, vol. xx« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 16: 387). NOTE 3: Survey of India sheet 58-G/13 (1971 edition) shows at a distance of about 18 km along the road approximately south-west from Madurai city a "pass" or rather a gap allowing passage near N09°58'02”: E077°58'47” (Everest 1830: circa 190 m asl) on the about 4 km long road from Melakkal (N09°59'09”: E077°59'10“: 161 m asl) approximately SSW to Sakkantiran (N09°56'23”: E077°58'28”: 170 m asl). NOTE 4: A. John Koilraj & Co. use the coordinates N09°58': E078°10' (apparently taken from USMAN 1981 PhD thesis or USMAN 1986: 121) both for Madurai town (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1999), the Madurai Kamaraj University campus (KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU 1998: 1111; KOILRAJ, MARIMUTHU et al. 1999; KOILRAJ, SHARMA et al. 2000: 759) and, pehaps --the context remains unclear-- for some of the caves also. On the Survey of India sheet 58-K/01 (edition 1969), however, »University« is shown near N09°56'15”: E078°08'30” (±250 m, Everest 1830): circa 135 m or 140 m asl and thus about 2 or 2.5 km approximately north-east of the road bridges (N09°55'30”: E078°07'35”: 133.1 m asl, Everest 1830) across the Vaigai River in the centre of Madurai town. KOILRAJ, SHARMA et al. (2000: 759) place »Samanar hill complex« 8 km south-east (SE) of Madurai (city at N09°56': E078°07') but the coordinates N09°58': E078°10' forwarded by KOILRAJ & MARIMUTHU (1998: 1111), KOILRAJ, MARIMUTHU et al. (1999), KOILRAJ, SHARMA et al. (2000: 759) and KOILRAJ, MARIMUTHU et al. (2002) actually indicate a spot about 6 km in a direct line approximately north-east from the city of Madurai (N09°56': E078°07' nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003).
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.2 | KANAVAI KATHA BOOTHAM CAVE 1 | ||
| 0.2 | KANAVAI KATHA BOOTHAM CAVE 2 | ||
| 4.1 | ANAIPATTI, Madurai (Cave on) | ||
| 7.6 | SAMANAR CAVE, Nagamalai, 2nd | ||
| 7.6 | MAHAVIRA CAVE, Samana Malai | ||
| 8.4 | SAMANAR CAVE, Nagamalai 1 | ||
| 14.0 | SUBRAHMANYA, Tirupparankunram Malai (Cave of) | ||
| 14.4 | VIRAPATTI SHELTER | ||
| 14.5 | TIRUNPARANKUNRAM CAVERN |