PANCHMANJALI GUPHA

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

Altogether six, more or less south-facing cave entrances give access to a complex jumble of interwoven cave passages with vaulted ceilings, which, coming back to each other (Laumanns 2006.03.26 cave plan: Panchmanjali Gupha), appear to represent the relic of a subterranean estuary of a resurgence cave, which once had been phreatic but now is abandoned by flowing water. ETYMOLOGY: The Sanskrit (Hindi, etc.) numeral -panch- means five but -manjali- as such is not identified (note 1) whilst -jali- is the Hindi word for a carved lattice (often marble) screen, and is also used to refer to the holes or spaces produced through carving timber or stone. SITUATION: A 15 minutes walk from the village of Ganai [note 2] leads to the entrances of Panchmanjali Gupha below a school house on a pine-tree covered hillslope (Laumanns & Breitenbach 2006.04.15 Mss). APPROACH: Unexplored remains how this cave can be reached. The GPS position recorded for Panchmanjali Gupha indicates a spot which lies at a lnear distance of about 12.5 km WNW from Gangolihat (N29°40': E080°03': 1750 m asl) and about 15 km WSW from Berinag (N29°48': E080°04'). CAVE DESCRIPTION: The cave has six entrances and generally narrow passages on at least two distinctive levels that were formed under phreatic conditions in the Precambrian limestone. Some [bedrock] rock pillars create a somewhat confusing pattern of passages (Laumanns & Breitenbach 2006.04.15 Mss) CAVE POTENTIAL: Not all crawls were pushed to a final conclusion. CAVE LIFE: Unidentified Arachnida (Araneae) represented by relatively large spiders were seen inside the cave (note 3).near distance of about 12.5 km WNW from Gangolihat (N29°40': E080°03': 1750 m asl) and about 15 km WSW from Berinag (N29°48': E080°04'). CAVE DESCRIPTION: The cave has six entrances and generally narrow passages on at least two distinctive levels that were formed under phreatic conditions in the Precambrian limestone. Some [bedrock] rock pillars create a somewhat confusing pattern of passages (Laumanns & Breitenbach 2006.04.15 Mss) CAVE POTENTIAL: Not all crawls were pushed to a final conclusion. CAVE LIFE: Unidentified Arachnida (Araneae) represented by relatively large spiders were seen inside the cave (note 3).