KHURIA RANI (Felsenhöhle der)
23.033300,83.616700
Description
A relatively small temple cave, which is sacred to the mother goddess Khuria Rani (note 1), reported RAHMANN (1937: 71) from an unspecified location above »a river« (note 2), which I suspect to be the Dorki nadi on the Khuria plateau. SITUATION: DEY (1983: 58) positions Khuriarani at N23°02': E83°37' (unspecified geodetic datum probably Everest 1830) and thus in the north-western corner of the Khuria plateau (note 3) in Jashpur district (note 4) and not far from the south-est border of Sarguja, hence in the Uparghat (note 5) and about 5 km or 10 km approximately north of Baghicha (note 6). GEOLOGICAL SITUATION: DEY (1983: 58) positions Khuriarani at N23°02': E83°37' (unspecified geodetic datum probably Everest 1830) and the accompanying »Geological Map of Jashpur (MP)« (DEY 1983 plate 1) shows at this place the edge of laterite capped Deccan Trap (note 7), which sometimes rests on remnant »grit, gravel, sandstone and ferrugineous shale« (note 8) or directly on Precambrian gneiss (note 9). The choice of possible cave bearing rocks, however, is even wider as DEY (1983: 58) reports occurrences of calcareous tufa which »also been found in the neighbourhood of the waterfalls near Khuriarani (23°02': 83°37'), Bolod Pass (22°58': 83°52') and Panikhosa ghag (22°58': 83°55'). The deposits near Khuriarani and Panikhosa ghag are fairly large and would repay exploitation. Besides calcareous tufa, a large deposit of cipolino, a variety of crystalline limestone, occurs in the valley of the Dorki nadi at Khuriarani. There are also a few bands of crystalline limestone in the Precambrian rocks near Dhauraghag (23°08': 83°35').« CULTURAL HISTORY (after: RAHMANN 1937: 71): The Korwa of Sarguja (note 10) venerate Khuria Rani, the tutelary deity of the Khuria Plateau, as their main goddess. She resides in a small rock cave above a river. According to DALTON (1872) she rather resembles the bloodthirsty goddess of the Gond, the prototype of the Hindu Kali, than any other object of veneration among the Kol. Though Khuria Rani is mostly propitiated by the Korwas, she is the special patron goddess of the Diwan (note 11) and every third generation his family has to offer a large sacrifice, on which occasion 30 or 40 buffaloes and an unlimited number of goats are sacrificed to her (note 12). CLIMATE: »The hot weather in the Nichghat is rather oppressive but it is not so in the Uparghat where dryness of the air mitigates the high temperature. The thermometer registers over 100°F (37.8°C) just for a few days. The cold weather is pleasant particularly in the Uparghat, while in the Khuria highlands sharp frosts are not uncommon. Khuria is notoriously malarial from August to October. … The average rainfall at Jashpurnagar [N22°54': E84°09'] … is over 60 inches (152 cm), most of which falls between July and September. The rainfall of the summer is usually accompanied by some thunderstorms and cloudbursts« (DEY 1983: 3).
NOTE 1: NOT SEEN bibliographical references: DALTON, E T (1872): Descriptive ethnology of Bengal.- (Calcutta), page 229. DALTON, E T (1873): Beschreibende Ethnologie Bengalens nach dem Werke von Colonel Dalton.- Zeitschrift für Ethnologie (Berlin), Band 5.RUSSEL, R V & LAL, R B H (1916): The tribes and castes of the Central Provinces of India.- (London), 4 volumes. Vol. III, page 575 (etc.?). NOTE 2: DEY (1983: 3): In Jashpur, »the Ib * , the most important river, has its source on the Khuria highlands and flows through the region from north to south dividing it into two equal portions. Its chief tributaries are the Sirki, Dorki, Maini, Sonajori and Khorung. The Uparghat is drained by the Sankh and its tributaries, of which the most important are the Laua and Girma. The headwaters of the Kanhar and the Ib and the Geor nadi drain the Khuria highlands. All the streams of the Uparghat are perennial and several waterfalls are formed along their courses as they descend down the high tableland of the Uparghat.« * Ib River (also: Eeb) N21°34': E083°48' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) on AMS sheet NF44-12 Raigarh (U502 series, 1955 edition). NOTE 3: IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 15: 296) lists »Khuria.— Plateau in the Jashpur State … occupying the north-western portion of the State, and lying between 23°0' and 23°14'N and 83°30' and 83°44' E., with an area of 462 square miles [1'197 square kilometers]. It consists of trap-rock topped with volcanic laterite, overlying the granite and gneiss which form the surface rocks at lower elevations. The plateau affords excellent pasturage, and Ahirs or cowherds from Mirzapur and elsewhere drive in large herds of cattle to graze; many such Ahirs have settled here permanently.« NOTE 4: The district of Jashpur, adjacent east of Surguja in Chhattisgarh state, is shown in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) maps 74 D1, 75 E1 F1. IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 14: 68): »The State of Jashpur was ceded to the British Government by the provisional agreement concluded with Mudhoji Bhonsla in 1818. Although noticed in the second article of this agreement as a separate State, Jashpur was at first treated like a fief of Surguja, and the tribute … is still paid through that State.« NOTE 5: DEY (1983: 2): »The topography of Jashpur falls into two distinct types — an upland region and a lowland called the Nichaghat. The upland region or the Uparghat, as it is locally known, rises abruptly above the Nichghat, in the north of the area like a fortress wall and comprises an area of 858 square miles (2,222 square kilometres). It is a well dissected table land with flat-topped ridges and narrow intervening valleys, gradually merging with the plateau of Ranchi on the east. On the west, towards Surguja district, the country rises gradually forming the Khuria highlands, whose highest part, called the Pandrapat, is a plateau about 3,500 ft (1609 m) above sea level.« NOTE 6: Bagicha at N22°58'30”: E83°41' (unspecified geodetic datum probably Everest 1830 coordinates, DEY 1983: 31) or at N22°58': E83°38' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) on AMS sheet NF44-08 Champa (U502 series, 1960 edition) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 75 E1). NOTE 7: DEY (1983: 42): »In the Uparghat, north of latitude 22°48', exposures of hard rocks are rare, the country is for most part covered with a mantle of ferrugineous lateritic material, usually unconsolidated and frequently consisting of loose ferrugineous gravel. The laterite is in part formed of detrital matter. Primary laterite derived from the alteration of rocks in situ occurs as capping on high, flat-topped ridges called pats.« NOTE 8: DEY (1983: 38-40) reports from the north and north-west of Jashpur state »grit, gravel, sandstone and ferrugineous shale … in small discontinuous outcrops or as scattered rock fragments around hills. The base of the formation and its thickness are not always seen clearly because of the cappings of laterite, but there is little doubt that it rests upon the old erosion surface of the Precambrian [gneiss] as a thin platform beneath the [late Cretaceous to early Eocene] Deccan Trap. The late Mr. Hiralal, who first mapped this region, referred the rocks to the Lameta Series on account of their lithological characteristics and Infra-Trappean position. They can be Upper Gondwanas as S.R. Shamshad found carbonaceous shale associated with laterite in the Ib river 4 miles (6.4 km) NW of Sanna (23°05': 83°49'). The grit and gravel consist mostly of quartz pebbles of various sizes up to one inch (2.54 cm) in diameter. … The Deccan Trap overlies the Upper Gondwana, but owing to extensive weathering under tropical conditions, the trap is altered to laterite.« NOTE 9: BLANFORD (1870: 71-72): Except for trap and laterite, the rocks on the road from Jashpur (N22°54': E084°09') approximately north-east to Ranchi (N23°21': E085°20') belong to metamorphics. NOTE 10: Surguja (Sarguja, Sirgoojah, Sirguja) »Feudatory State« (now district) lies between N22°38': E82°31' and N24°06': E84°05' (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 23: 170) and falls on the Survey of India sheets 63-P/08, 64-I, 64-J, 64-M and 64-N or in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) maps 57 and 74.Surguja town (also: Ambikapur, Sarguja, Sirgoojah, Sirguja) is positioned at N23°07': E83°12' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) on AMS sheet NF44-04 Ambikapur (U502 series, 1962 edition) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006: 74 C1). NOTE 11: »diwan --royal court or council; principal officer in a prinely state. Diwan-i-Am -- hall of private audience. Diwan-i-Khas -- hall of private audience« (LONELY PLANET, India 2005 glossary: 1107). NOTE 12: Manfred Moser (Regensburg, 1998 personal correspondence) kindly forwarded the reference to RAHMANN (1937: 71): »Die Korwa in Sarguja verehren Khuria Rani , die Schutzherrin des Khuria Plateaus, als Hauptgottheit. Sie hat ihren Sitz in einer kleinen Felsenhöhle oberhalb eines Flusses. Nach DALTON [1872] gleicht sie mehr "der blutrünstigen Göttin der Gond, dem Prototyp der Hindu Kali, als irgendeinem der Objekte der Verehrung bei den Kol". Khuria Rani wird zwar von allem Korwas verehrt, aber sie ist doch insbesondere die Schutzgöttin des Diwan. Dessen Familie muß ihr jede dritte Generation ein großes Opfer darbringen. Bei dieser Gelegenheit werden ihr 30 bis 40 Büffel und eine unbeschränkte Zahl Ziegen geopfert.«
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 56.6 | KAILASH GUPHA, Jashpur | ||
| 65.0 | SUKANDAR DEEP WATER-HOLE | ||
| 89.3 | ANJANA DEVI GUFA, Anjan, Anjana | ||
| 96.9 | BURADAN CAVES, Mara / Muri | ||
| 96.9 | CHHEWAR CAVES, Mara / Muri | ||
| 96.9 | RAVAN CAVES, Mara / Muri | ||
| 107.1 | CHORDTALLA | ||
| 107.1 | Malmalpur Cave | ||
| 107.1 | SHITALPUR CAVE |