DHAULI CAVE 1

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

The first of two natural rift caves in upheaved breccia with quartzose rock intermixed (KITTOE 1838a: 436). SITUATION: In the eastern or southern declivity beneath the Mahadeva (Shiva) temple on the hill Aswastama (KITTOE 1838b: Aswastuma) near the village of Dhauli / Dhowlee (N20°11': E85°50' nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) above the banks of the Dyah River. CAVE DESCRIPTION: There are two natural caverns or clefts in the rock, one being choked up with rubbish [compare –>Dhauli Cave 2] the other clear for eighty or a hundred feet [25 or 30 m], beyond which it is impossible to penetrate, the passage becoming very narrow and the stench of the myriads of bats (inhabiting it) quite suffocating (KITTOE 1838a: 436-437 with location map on plate 21 opposite page 436). CULTURAL HISTORY -- rock art: KITTOE (1838a: 437, fig. 2) observed at the mouth of this cavern is an inscription slightly scratched on a detached stone. CAVE LIFE: KITTOE (1838a: 437) noticed myriads of bats (Chiropera).