WABA CAVE, Sunerakot
29.650000,79.633300
Description
A supposedly »long cave« and »pilgrimage centre« (temple cave) reported Robert D. Leakey from a puzzling situation where two distinct locations got mixed into one: An unidentified »the chief clerk [no name comprehended] at Mr. Duncan's Chakrata office has been telling me about a number of caves [note 1) at his home district near Almora… His village is Gangolihat [note 2], 50 miles from Almora, where there is a cave known as 'Waba Cave' where people 'can go miles underground, but cannot reach the end because they got suffocated' [note 3]. It is also a pilgrimage centre. […] The nearest village is Sunerakot [note 4], via Howalbaqh PO« (Leakey, Robert D 1946.08.20 Mss). This location is problematic insofar as Howalbagh (note 5) lies close to Almora (N29°37': E079°40': 1650 m asl) but not, as Leakey (1946.08.20) seems to imply, close to Gangolihat (note 6). IDENTITY: Personally I suspect, based on hard experience and soft imagination, that this "Waba Cave" (note 7) results from effectively joined pieces of hearsay information on Patal –>Bhubaneshvar (near Gangolihat) combined with rumours about –>Mahadev Gufa near Naini Tal, which has been recorded not only as a –>Baba Cave (Uwe Scherzer 1991.08.18 personal correspondence) but also as one Grotte du –>Nainital (DUCLUZAUX 1993).
NOTE 1: The plural "caves" is probably honorific. NOTE 2: Gangolihat 29°40'N: 80°03'E: 1750 m. NOTE 3: Don't worry too much about so-called »bad air« as the most effective method to turn a luring cave entrance into an enduring source of inspiration is to refrain from having a closer look. In other words: The reputation of "bad air" is the best working Indian technique to control the impulse of exploring caves. NOTE 4: Sunerakot (Leakey 1946.08.20 Mss) is not identified. NOTE 5: »Howalbaqh PO« (Leakey 1946.08.20 Mss) is probably the Post Office at Hawalbagh, a populated place near 29°39'N: 79°38'E and thus about 5 km in a direct line approximately northwest of Almora (N29°37': E079°40': 1650 m). NOTE 6: Hawalbagh 29°39'N: 79°38'E lies 42 km in a direct line due east of Gangolihat 29°40'N: 80°03'N: 1750 m. NOTE 7: The strange »waba« (Leakey 1946.08.20 Mss) looks a lot like a poorly understood "baba" (literally: daddy; an elder man, father, respected person, saint or, for that matter, a toddler) or "bhavan" (Sanskrit, Hindi), a [sacred] habitation, literally "house" (implying god's house).
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.7 | VIVEKANADA, Almora (Cave of) | ||
| 3.7 | FARKANAULI, Kasardeve | ||
| 3.7 | FALSEEMA ROCK SHELTERS, Kasardeve | ||
| 4.9 | DOCRIANI BAMAK GLACIER CAVES (Cave of) | ||
| 11.2 | DALBAND SHELTER 1 | ||
| 11.2 | DALBAND SHELTER 2 | ||
| 13.1 | LAKHU UDYAR | ||
| 20.9 | RANIKHET MAHAGUFA | ||
| 26.1 | PAHARPANI GORAKH BABAJI GUFA |