SANTANA GOPALASWAMI (Cave of)
16.950000,81.800000
Description
NOTE 1: This fabulous tunnel would cover a linear distance of 940 km to the NNE. NOTE 2: GLENNIE (1951c: 8 after »Gaz. Godavari Dist. Vol.1.p.241« in the sense of HEMINGWAY, F R (1907, 1: 241). NOTE 3: "daula, dowla" (vernacular) from "dhaula" (Sanskrit), white. "giri" (Sanskrit, Hindi, etc.), hill. "Ishwara" (Sanskrit, Hindi, etc.), master, lord, god. NOTE 4: »Dowlaishweram« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8; CRAVEN 1969: 22). »Dowlaishweram.-- Town in the Rajahmundry taluk of Godavari District … situated in 16° 57' N. and 81° 47' E., 5 miles south of Rajahmundry town, on the Godavari, at a point of bifurcation of the river where a great anicut (dam) has been constructed across it« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 11: 368). »Dowlaishwaram« (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). »Dowlaiswaram« (India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth 2006: 103 H2; nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). NOTE 5: »… Daulagiri Hill, near Dowlaishweram on the left bank of the Godavari by the railway bridge. In its south side is a cave …« (CRAVEN, S A 1969: 22). NOTE 6: »Madras« (WALTHAM 1976a, 1976b), saffronised: Chennai; Fort Saint George N13°04'42”: E080°17'09” (WGS84).
The cave associated with Santana Gopalaswami is probably modified, natural, sacred cave (temple cave), which attracts customers not only with giving access to a lingam (perhaps a speleothem) but also with providing a back story according to which an unspecified beginning gives access to a fabulous tunnel (note 1) leading somehow to the religious industy centre of Benares (Varanasi N25°20': E083°00'). ETYMOLOGY: The cave is dedicated to »Santána Gópálasvámi« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8) and the name of the town of »Dowlaishwaram is derived from that of the neighbouring hill Daulagiri« (note 2) or the other way round (note 3). SETTING: On the east (orographically left) bank of the Godavari River and rather in the Rajahmundry taluk (note 4) than in a »Rajahmundry Talug« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8). SITUATION: On a hill called Daulagiri, which rises somewhere in the vicinity of the town of Dowlaishwaram (N16°57': E081°48'), which itself is said to lie »five miles« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8), »four and a half miles« (CRAVEN 1969: 22) or about 5 km along the National Highway NH5 (India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth 2006: 103 H2) south of Rajahmundy. SITUATION 1951: On an uspecified »side of the hill« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8). SITUATION 1969: Either on the south side of a railway bridge, a south side on the left bank of the Godavari, or the south side of Daulagiri Hill (note 5). SITUATION 1976: The cave entrance lies in an inexplicable spatial relation »near the town of Dowlaishweram« and only 460 km or »not far north of Madras« (saffronised: Chennai; Fort Saint George N13°04'42”: E080°17'09” WGS84). POSITION 1908: Dowlaishwaram N16°57': E081°47' (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 11: 368). POSITION 1963: Dowlaishwaram N16°57': E081°48' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1951: »A cave on the side of the hill is supposed to be the mouth of a subterranean passage leading to Benares. In it is a stone image called Konda Nivásudu or Santána Gópálasvámi …« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8). CAVE DESCRIPTION 1976: Processes of wishful thinking result not only in turning the unspecified »cave« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8; CRAVEN 1969: 22) into a »limestone cave« (WALTHAM 1976a, 1976b) but also metamorphosing the unspecified »stone image« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8) into »a stalgmite lingam« (WALTHAM 1976a, 1976b). CULTURAL HISTORY 1951: »There, it is said, a saint named Nárada used to live« and inside the temple cave, there is »a stone image called Konda Nivásudu or Santána Gópálasvámi, which is visited by women who desire to have children. … Dowlaishwaram is one of the holiest of the bathing place [tirtha] … along the [Godavari] river, and is thronged by pilgrims during the pushkaram festival« (GLENNIE 1951c: 8). CULTURAL HISTORY 1976: Looking through the lense of an engineer, the »… cave near the town of Dowlaishweram … is doubly sacred to the local Hindus. Firstly its inner reaches are supposed to extend to the holy city of Benares -- which is a geological impossibility -- and secondly it contains a stalgmite lingam which is visited by women who desire to have children« (WALTHAM 1976a, 1976b).
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32.0 | PATTISAM ISLAND (Cave on) | ||
| 37.7 | PANDAVA CAVE, Peddapuram | ||
| 49.3 | VIRABHADRASWAMI (Cave of) | ||
| 70.0 | MANDAVYA MAHAMUNI (Cave of) | ||
| 78.4 | PANDAVA CAVE, Parnasala Konda - Tetagunta | ||
| 83.1 | RAMAVARAM, Yellavaram (Cave near) | ||
| 89.1 | TALUPULAMMA (Cave of) | ||
| 153.3 | SANKARAM CAVES | ||
| 161.0 | MATSYA GUNDAM POTHOLE |