WAH DIENGPIAN (Krem)
25.238100,91.946900
Description
The upturned letter "U" shaped cave entrance (2.5 m wide, almost 4 m high) and spring of water faces south by east (110°) and gives access to a pebble-floored, only slightly inclined, zigzagging cave passage (on average 2 m wide and 8 m high), which drains a rivulet from north-west to south-east. The cave is formed in a brittle and either arenaceous (sandy) limestone facies or a calcareous sandstone, which is locally marked by a few marly intercalations. Vertical to sub-vertical joints guide the known cave passages. Inside the cave are shining black "lacquered" rock surfaces, tentatively ascribed to an influence by humic acids originating from the soil cover in the catchment area. ETYMOLOGY: The origin and history of the Khasi cave name "Krem Wah Diengpian" remains in the abode of the nebulous mists but the cave itself is called after a "wah" of stream which itself is called after a thick and stout or firmly rooted (species of?) tree (note 1). SITUATION: The GPS readings recorded for the entrance to Krem Wah Diengpian indicate a spot which lies 1.65 km in a direct line approximately south (199°) of the village of Pongtung (also: Phlangpongtung N25°15'08”: E091°57'09” WGS84) on the road from Pynursla (N25°18'30”: E092°54') south-east towards Dauki (25°11'10”N: 92°01'20”E). APPROACH 1998: The cave entrance was reached by travelling from the upper end of Pongtung along an all-weather road approximately west towards Lyngkhat up to a suitable car stop (near 25°14'29.7”N: 91°56'34”E: ca. 785 m asl) from where a much overgrown path (guide!) initially gains and then looses about 50 vertical metres while crossing what had been in November 1998 a rather densely vegetation-clad ridge. APPROACH 2012: »On the 24th march 2012 at about 9:30 am we reach Pongtung (15 km fr Pynursla).there we met a frn whom we ask to take us to the cave (me,mc dkhar n elixir) ,the name of the cave is "krem wahdiengpian.It is located to de south west of the village.to reach the cave one's has to trek by foot for just 30 min from the village. Trekking start frm 'shang u sing' hill [note 2] to 'madan nongsuming' [note 3] then to 'u lum shang ngi' [note 4] were the cave [entrance] is located. Trekking through this area is fun though we get cut on many part of our body from broom leave (lyngnai). The cave is under the area of Raid [note 5] Shabong« (Mp Nonglamin 2012.04.12 facebook.com/groups/221224411233267/ forwarded by Christopher M Smart 2012.06.15). APPROACH 2013: »Wahdienpian cave at Pongtung vill.just 15kms frm Pynursla on the N.H.40..And this cave began to get smaller in some passage due to the blockade of Stalagmites and stalactites« (Mc Fairson, facebook friend of Christopher M Smart 2013.05.23). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1998: The south by east facing cave entrance (2 m wide and 5 m high) is characterised by issuing what had been on 3rd and 4th November 1998 a relatively small stream of water (ca. 1 ltr/sec). A few lateral cave passages lead not only to 7 m or 8 m high avens but also to collapsed continuations and breakdown near to the surface. At approximately two thirds in and only a few metres after having climbed across the "The Titanic" (a large fallen slab of rock resembling a ship's body), a discordant tributary "Black Inlet" (+3.5 m up, 0.6 m by 0.6 m wide) from the north (orographic left) was not, as one might expect, left unexplored because of it's uneven surfaces, no no, but due to an unmistakable lack of suitable knee-caps or knee-pads. Nevertheless, the Black Inlet appears to have good though uncomfortable potential to extend the cave's survey length. Upstream beyond the "Black Inlet", the cave visitor is forced to choose a higher route, which is often separated from the cave stream below by a too narrow canyon or a false floor of unreasonable rocks, which may or may not give way. Proceeding, the single cave passage becomes successively smaller and smaller while more and more secondary calcite formations (mostly stalactitic speleothems), both old and young, cease their play to stare at the passing intruder, again both old and young. At the reached "end" of the survey, one faces calcite formations blocking the horizontal way on but the cave passage continues visibly beyond the end in the shape of an impenetrable tight squeeze at ankle's height. CAVE DESCRIPTION 2012: »The cave is a mixture of sandstone and lime with a high percen of lime. … Caving in this cave is somehow a danger thing due to a huge population of bats. Length:around 600-620 metre« (Mp Nonglamin 2012.04.12 www.facebook.com/groups/221224411233267/ forwarded by Christopher M Smart 2012.06.15). CULTURAL HISTORY - Human use: Frogs were said to have been hunted inside this cave (Bamon Mawiong and Prin Lyngdoh, Pongtung village 1998.11.03 personal communication) but on 4th November 1998 I have seen not a single one. At least we are told that »the Syntengs and Lynngams [also: ki Lyngngam] are fond of tadpoles, and the Khasis consider a curry made from a kind of green frog, called ka japieh [note 6], a bonne bouche. They, however, do not eat ordinary frogs (jakoid)« (GURDON, P R T 1906: 52).CAVE LIFE : With the help of my own eyes, I have seen on 4th November 1998 a few relatively large-sized (fruit?) bats (Chiroptera: conf. Megachiroptera) but it is not impossible that all the cave fauna, which I have not seen, remains unknown till today. It was one »Mp Nonglamin« (note 7), however, who had seen on the 24th March of 2012 (literally quoted) »Living thing:1 ,we found black spider and also other species of spider which we couldn't identify.2. Many type of marine life including some type of fish.3. Bats« (Mp Nonglamin 2012.04.12 www.facebook.com/groups/221224411233267/ forwarded by Christopher M Smart 2012.06.15).
NOTE 1: "ka dieng" (noun, feminine) »the wood, a tree« and "u dieng" (noun, masculine) »the timber« (SINGH, N 1906: 67); "pian" (adjective) has been translated as »short and stout« and "pian" (adverb) as »firmly« (SINGH, N 1906: 160). "ba pian" (Khasi; adjective), pronounced "ba pi-an" (SINGH, N 1906: 160) »short and stout« (SINGH, N 1906: 160). "pian" (Khasi; adverb), pronounced ”p'ian” (SINGH, N 1906: 160), apparently a contraction of ”pyian” (hdg 2012.06.15), »firmly [sit]« (SINGH, N 1906: 160) as in ”u la shong pian ha ka shuki” (SINGH, N 1906: 160), »he sits firmly on his chair« (hdg 2012.06.15) or "u shong pian ha ka shuki" = »he sits firmly on a chair« (hdg 2012.06.15).NOTE 2: ka shang (Khasi, noun) »a basket« (SINGH, N 1906: 189; SINGH, N 1920: 38; OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxv); shang (Khasi, verb) »to roam; to associate with« (SINGH, N 1906: 189). u sing (Khasi, noun), a contraction of ”sying” (SINGH, N 1906: 203), »the ginger; Botanically: Zingiberaceae« (SINGH, N 1906: 203). NOTE 3: ka madan (Khasi noun, a Farsi / Urdu loan word), binomial: ”madan madiah” (SINGH, N 1906: 126), »a plain; a maidan« (SINGH, N 1906: 126) from "maidan" (Urdu, from Farsi / Persian), from "maydan" (Arabic), in the Indian subcontinent »an open space in or near a town, used as a parade ground or for events such as public meetings and polo matches« (New Oxford American Dictionary 2005). "nongsuming" (Mp Nonglamin 2012.04.12 www.facebook.com) from "ki nong" (Khasi, noun, plural) »the villagers« (SINGH, N 1906: 144) + "ka summon" (Khasi, noun, English loan word) »a call« (SINGH, N 1920: 58) -- apparently the local meeting ground. NOTE 4: ka 'ngi (Khasi, noun), a contraction of ”ka sngi” (SINGH, N 1906: 188), »the sun« (SINGH, N 1906: 78; SINGH, N 1920: 508; BLAH, E 2007: 295). NOTE 5: The Khasi "[ba] ráid (Mp Nonglamin 2012.04.12 www.facebook.com) is an adjective and means »stunted, dwarfish, degenerated« (SINGH, N 1906: 170) but the Khasi noun "ka riat" is the word for »a cliff« (SINGH, N 1906: 172; SINGH, N 1920: 74; BLAH, E 2007: 52), »a crag« (SINGH, N 1920: 100), »a precipice« (SINGH, N 1906: 172; SINGH, N 1920: 394; BLAH, E 2007: 233). NOTE 6: The Khasi loanword ”ka beng” (Bengali) signifies »a big frog« (SINGH, N 1906: 11) but ”ka jakóid” (also "ka jakoit" SINGH, N 1920: 193) is the word for »a frog« (SINGH, N 1906: 96; SINGH, N 1920: 193; BLAH, E 2007: 307) and ”ka japieh” is the name of »a frog of greenish brown colour found in hill streams« (SINGH, N 1906: 99). The Khasi ”u hynroh” has been translated not only by »a toad« (SINGH, N 1906: 83; SINGH, N 1920: 531; BLAH, E 2007: 309) but also by »a frog« (SINGH, N 1906: 83). NOTE 7: "ka nong" (feminine) or "u nong" singifies »1. the resident of a village; 2. a doer; an agent; 3. a hired man or woman; anything hired out; 4. the wages; the gain; the profit« (SINGH, N 1906: 144) but ka 'nong (Khasi, noun) is a contraction of ”ka shnong” (SINGH, N 1906: 197) and the word for »a village; a town« (SINGH, N 1906: 144) but "ka 'nong" (noun), a contraction of ”ka rnong” (SINGH, N 1906: 175), is the word for »the brass; the bronze« (SINGH, N 1906: 144) and "ka nong (Khasi, noun) designates »a square measure covering 6 dieng by 2 dieng« (SINGH, N 1906: 144) [circa 8.7 m by 5.8 m or about 50 square metres]. Lamin (Khasi, noun) is the name of »a clan in the Khyrim State« (GURDON, P R T 1906: 218 no. 113). NOTE 8: "u prew" (Khasi; noun) »a small, dry bamboo or reed; a torch« (SINGH, N 1906: 163). NOTE 9: »Neil, Paul and Liz on the GPS, guided by Vivian 'Bibi' Kharnaior, wife of Raphael Warjri, take a taxi to Pongtung, a village some 15 km south of Pynursla on the road to Dawki. In the boiling heat of the day they climb to the top of a 100 m high hill, descend it on the other side and reconnoitre the first few metres of Krem Wah Diengpian. Since Bibi is dressed in her shopping clothes and Neil has to return to Shillong today, they postpone cave mapping and return to the car. In the afternoon they trace down two more cave entrances near the limestone quarry of Pongtung« (Gebauer, H D 1998 diary, 03 November). NOTE 10: Non-mapping history: 2001.06.26 »Sorry, Paul: The survey is ancient but the cave plan unfinished: Pynursla: Krem Wah Diengpian. Team: 03.11.1999: Paul, Vivian & Andy. Can you help me? Xerox your survey book?« (Gebauer, H D 2001.06.26 personal correspondence). 2001.06.27 to 2013.05.23: » [nothing but lukewarm air]« (Edmunds, Paul Arthur 2001.06.27 to 2013.05.23 personal correspondence). NOTE 11: »Bibi gets more and more involved. For the last few days she contributed considerably by forwarding new cave names gathered from all kinds of sources and today she returns to Krem Wah Diengpian intentionally, this time properly equipped with blue jeans, canvas shoes, a worn-out jacket and a borrowed carbide lamp. Followed by Paul, Andy and Daniel, Bibi speeds across the hill towards the cave with the ease of a fairy and is only surpassed in swiftness by the guides. Bamon Mawiong and Pryn Lyngdoh are true jungle men. They walk barefoot, without any effort and noiseless while the Europeans crash like rolling boulders through the prolific vegetation … Exiting the cave in the evening we are greeted by an overwhelming dawn. A huge oval sun paints a sky with fiery colours while the endless plains of Bangladesh peep through the lush flowery foliage spiced with all sorts of beeps and chirps. In the distance, the plateaus of Sohra and Lakadong are clearly visible and a single cumulus tower, pink all over, is apparently only put up to draw attention. Eventually, the largest possible moon rises into the still bright sky while the first lights are lit in the towns far below. Small creatures we are, stumbling over mossy rocks in a thicket and surrounded by insects« (Gebauer, H D 1998 diary, 04 November).
Histoire
EXPLORATION HISTORY: Not only the charcoal inscription »7.11.87 LYMBIT« (1987.11.07 bat), which was seen in November 1998 written on the wall of the cave, but also burned remnants of "u prew" (note 8) at the very end of the cave (not easy to reach) indicate that the accessible parts of the cave is well known to people familiar with the area. 1998.11.03: Bamon Mawiong and Prin Lyngdoh, who hade been arranged by Welling Thabah from the village of Pongtung, guided Vivian 'Bibi' Kharnaior, Paul A. Edmunds and Elizabeth 'Liz' Millet into the cave, where they commenced exploring cave passages and attempted to map the first 142 m of survey length and (note 9), which, however, ended up as a quite successful exercise in futility (note 10). 1998.11.04: H. D. Gebauer (book), Vivian 'Bibi' Kharnaior (tape), Paul A. Edmunds (instruments) and Andrew "Andy" Peter Tyler (present) continued mapping and exploration, and added, by the way, another 328 m to the survey length (note 11).
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | WAH LAMBYRNAI (Krem) | ||
| 0.6 | WAH PDAH (Krem) | ||
| 1.1 | SYMPTUNG (Krem) | ||
| 1.3 | SHYMBRONG (Krem) | ||
| 1.8 | NONGTHYLLAM CAVES, Pontung (aa -) | ||
| 5.5 | LYMBIT (Smart et al. 2012) (Krem) | ||
| 6.0 | WAH DIENGROT (Krem) | ||
| 6.3 | UMKARAM (Cave near) | ||
| 6.5 | POTTERY RIFT, Umkaram (aa -) |