Dandak Cave, Kanger Valley

Dandak Cave

(A blog by Jitendra Nakka)

Introduction
 

Bastar is the king of adventures, king of thrill in Chhattisgarh. Bastar is the home of some of the most exotic destinations of Central India and can provide some of the most virgin endeavours on most spellbinding terrains of Central India, one such place is Dandak Cave which comes in the kotumsar sub-range of forest at Kanger Valley National Park.

 

Pic showing the guide and Mr. Ashish Gadpale standing just infront of cave mouth

 

 

Figure showing textbook example of Cave Pop-corn 

Where and How to reach?
 

Dandak Cave comes in the Kanger Valley National Park area, whose entrance(Kanger Valley barrier) is  nearly 26 kms from Divisional Head Quarter Jagdalpur on Jagdalpur-Hyderabad Highway (NH-221). Its nealy 326 kms from C.G State capital Raipur, nearly 326 kms from Vishakapatnam. The nearest railway station is Jagdalpur. The nearest airport is Raipur. Jagdalpur is one of the premium destinations for tourists as it offers exciting tour packages for tourists all round Central India. There are numerous luxurious hotels and motels in Jagdalpur which provide such packages.

Way to Kanger Valley

Being in Dandak Cave:

Dandak is one of the most well-maintained cave of Kanger Valley National Park, as the curious tourist will surely get the textbook examples of every cavern structures. Here just after the cave we can see the helictites, followed by the classic examples of soda straws on the opposite wall of helictite.

Going few feets down, the narrow entrance opens into a large chamber showing exotic examples of flowstones in a couple of dripstones. This chamber is as big as it can hold more than 500 tourists at a single
span of time. On one of the adjacent wall nearby, we can see a very very narrow entrance for the second chamber series of cave. 

Figure showing developed Stalagmite



Pic showing broken Stalactite (behind the author)



Way to Second chamber series

The second chamber series of this cave has ultimate narrow entrance but opens into a big room performing a beautiful play of stalactites, stalagmites and few rare textbook examples of cave popcorns  and soda straws with a central large stalagmite and stalactite. Here this stalagmite seems like to have grown from a 70 feet deep sinkhole which is just next to this central stalagmite. Going further forward,we can see many small chambers, some are inter-connected while some possess dead ends, but on the whole all the chambers were having dead end after few feet. 

Addition to its Importance:

This cave is one of the favourite spot for researchers as this cave provides a perfect climate for researchers to read the palaeo and present climate on the basis of living fauna and fossils. Dr. Jayant Biswas, Founder and President of "National Cave Research and Protection Organization, India" has published a lot of research papers some of which has been published in some of the most reputed publishing houses of world like Speleologija(1) e.t.c. He has worked a lot for cave-biology. On the basis of fauna found here, he has named cave fauna as cavernicoles (cave organisms) and divided them into three types :


(A) Troglobites: Species which live wholly and permanently in the dark zone of caves. Mostly are albinic because camouflage colouring is of no use.

(B) Troglophiles: Species which live permanently in the dark zone, some of which can live in a suitable habitat away from the cave.

(C) Trogloxene: Species which visit or take shelter but do not complete their whole life cycle in caves. They go to the outer world periodically for some requirements, usually food. Further it can be divided as accidental trogloxene and habitual trogloxene. The affix terminology is sufficient to recongnize them.(2)

Found Species:
Arthropods- Armadillidium sp.,Diplopoda.
Molluscs: Opeas sp.
Amphibian: Hydrophylax malabaricus.
 

 

Pic showing a frog dwelling inside Dandak cave 

 The cave has got its name after the division’s ancient name “Dandkaaranya”. Dandak was a demon who got cursed by a teacher (sage) of demons “Shankaracharya” and got his kingdom turned into dense forest within a fraction of time along with himself.

This cave is known for its most spectacular show of speleothems formations with some outstanding example of fauna which likes to live inside cave only. This phenomenon has given this cave special attention and preference among the researchers to deeply analyze the palaeo and current climate of the cave.

Conclusion:

This cave proves to be one of the most promising cave for cave researchers and speleologists. And for young guns, this cave is an ideal example for reading textbook examples of cavern structures.

Reference:
(1) http://www.speleologija.hr/indija09/index.html
(2) http://www.cave-biology.org/

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Sheet Cave

Sheet Cave, Kanger Valley, Bastar

Introduction

Bastar is the king of tourism of Chhattisgarh. Talking about Bastar, the first name which comes in mind is Kanger Valley National Park, which is famous for its biosphere reserve. State Govt. has recommended its name to UNESCO for accepting as World Heritage site. In addition to this, this place is the home of some of the most virgin caves of Central India. One such virgin cave is Sheet gufa i.e. cold cave.

                                                     Sheet Cave Entrance(Behind author)

Where and How to reach?

Sheet cave is very near to Kanger nala, one of the most important brook of Kanger Valley. Just after crossing Kanger Valley barrier, we have to travel 4 kms more to reach the kanger nala bridge which is nearly 50 feet wide. Just after crossing this bridge, we have to enter in to the forest on the left side of the road (NH-16, Jagdalpur-Hyderabad Highway). Maintaining a parallel distance of 100 feet from NH, we have to travel 250 m deep into the forest, then we have to deviate our path towards the Limestone Mountains. After crossing half a mile we will reach to the foothill of exterior limestone mountains of Kanger Valley. Here we have to climb up to 200 feet to make it possible to see the entrance of Sheet cave. Though the entrance is big and wide, but the floor in front of Sheet Cave is bit deeper backside, which it impossible to recognize from a distant area.

.                                                               Kanger Nala (Kanger Valley)

Best time to visit: From the beginning of winters till the end of summers.

Salient Features:

Being in Sheet cave feels like heaven. The entrance is quite wide and easy to enter inside. Basically it’s a one single hall chamber having a dimension of nearly 50-60 feet of length, 25ft of width and height of nearly 20ft at the entrance which lowers down upto 10 – 8 ft at the end of chamber. At the end of this chamber, we can observe the passage for a new chamber, which as told by the guide, has been abandoned due to the lack of oxygen in it, but still from the left of this end, we can observe the passage for water flow.

                                                                 View of Cave inside

The spectacular part of this cave is its environment, which unlike the other solution caves of this valley, exhibits a kind of dry and cold environment. Thrill comes from inside, as there is no path up to this cave, you have to make your own path, no sooner you enter inside, you will start feeling cold.

One more peculiar fact to be observed for this cave is that, just outside at the entrance of this cave, large flowstones can be observed at the very beginning, which is the first and last proof of any visible speleothem in this cave. Hence, we can say looks more like a cave than a cavern, as it hardly displays any remarkable speleothem growth inside the cave.

                                                              Flowstone at the entrance

Conclusion: 

Such a place which is spectacular for its cold environment, which can relieve your fatigue after a long follow through, which gives you the feeling of a den of any wild animal……can really create thrill and curiosity among tourists for visiting such a great marvel. On the whole, it can give a speleologist a great experience to learn the different adverse conditions for Karst topography.

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Pedawada Cave

Pedawada Cave, Kanger Valley, Bastar

Introduction

 
 Kanger valley is the king of valleys in Chhattisgarh. In addition to this, it is the most promising spot or heaven of speleologists, in the sense that numerous caves are waiting for the speleologists to be searched out. In fact Kutumsar, Kailash and Dandak are few well known names of the caves which are the jewels of Kanger valley, but hold on, this is just the beginning of your cave journey as there are many more names which are younger and more fascinating than the former ones, which has been discovered actually by the fellow villagers by the concerned areas. One such marvel is Pedawada Cave.

                                                      Pedawada Cave (Second Mouth/Entrance)

Where and how to reach?

Pedawada is a small village situated on the left side of NH-16(Jagdalpur-Hyderabad Highway) in Kanger valley. It is nearly 29kms away from Divisional Head Quarter, Jagdalpur and nearly 3-4 kms from Kanger valley barrier. After crossing barrier, we have to travel 2 kilometers more to reach another barrier on the unmetalled junction of highway. This junction is called “Basta Bachao naka” i.e.” Save Bamboo Barrier” which is a barrier of forest department meant for the conservation of Bamboo tree as Bamboo is the most dominant tree in Pedawada forest. As we follow this unmetalled path(kachcha road), we can observe one small pool (rapta pool in local language), which after half a kilometer traverse more to the left side of the road(before reaching the village “Padawada”) reaches upto a hill series of limestone, which after climbing up to 200 ft above the hill, reaches upto a fracture in the rock strata, which is actually the mouth opening of this cave called “Pedawada Cave”.

                                                          Kanger Nala (Kanger Valley)

Best visit time: from November to June i.e. from the beginning of winter to the end of summer.

Salient Features: 

The Pedawada cave is actually an “aven” (Aven means Pitch (vertical space), in rock or ice climbing).  covered or overlain by highly jointed rocks . As we reach the mouth of this cave, we have to climb down nearly 4 feet deep, to make it to the first chamber. The first chamber displays the rarest example of very initial stage of cave formation which is spectacular for any speleologist. Hence the first shows shows very less speleothems but still we can manage to see some youngest stalactites (soda straws) and some rarest examples of young flowstones.

                               Fig. showing soda straws at the first chamber (pic by: Jitendra Nakka)

                                       Picture showing flowstone on the walls of Pedawada Cave

Actually the first chamber is the upper surface of aven having a width a nearly 10-12 feet and the height of this chamber is just 2-3 feet high. As this chamber is actually  the surface above aven, from  here we can observe an aven which is nearly just 3 feet wide from top and narrows down at the end where the width is just 1-1.5 feet and the length of this aven is nearly 20-25 feet long which extends to the other opening of the aven. But in the real sense, its not advisable to climb down the aven for any more research as the place is highly risky to again come up. So its better to come outside of the cave opening  and check for the other opening. 

The other opening is nearly 20-25 feet away from the first opening, and it doesn’t show any chamber like features and directly displays the aven overlain by jointed strata. Here it’s a small 2-2.5 feet opening just making it possible for us to sit and visit the aven. But the walls of aven at the opening show a kind of solution activity of karst topography and can be called as flowstone.

                                           Flowstone at the second entrance of Pedawada cave

Geology of a Cave:

Cave or Cavern?

Is there a difference between a cave and a cavern? This is a frequently asked question, and many people use the terms interchangeably. However, there is a difference. A cave is any cavity in the ground that is large enough that some portion of it will not receive direct sunlight. There are many types of caves (discussed in this lesson plan). A cavern is a specific type of cave, naturally formed in soluble rock with the ability to grow speleothems. So, although a cavern can accurately be called a cave (since it is a type of cave), all caves cannot be called caverns.(1)

The largest and most abundant solutional caves are located in limestone. Limestone dissolves under the action of rainwater and groundwater charged with H₂CO₃ (carbonic acid) and naturally occurring organic acids. The dissolution process produces a distinctive landform known as karst, characterized by sinkholes, and underground drainage. Limestone caves are often adorned with calcium carbonate formations produced through slow precipitation. These include stalagmites, stalactites, flowstones, straws, drip stones and columns. These secondary mineral deposits in caves are called speleothems(2)

 

Conclusion:

As this cave is in its very initial stage of cavern formation, it a heaven for speleologist for their analysis regarding mode and causes of occurrence of a cave. For geology students, it’s a live example to see how cave are formed.

Reference:

Lecture Notes from Sierra Nivada Corporation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solutional_cave

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Bhainsa-Darha, the heaven of kanger valley

Bhainsa-Darha
(By Jitendra Nakka)

Inroduction

There are three national parks in Chhattisgarh. Among these three,the most beautiful one is Kanger Valley National Park. Having spread up to 200 sq. km, the best part of this park is its geological formations. This park is the home of some of the most exotic, spellbound, virgin caves of Central India. This park is the home of one of the most mesmerizing natural habitat of crocodiles and tortoises. This park is the home of BHAINSA DARHA.

                                          Fig: Bhainsa-Darha lake      pic by: Mr. Mukesh Patel

Where and How to Reach?

Bhaina-Darha is approachable from two ways:

The first one is from Kailash Cave road i.e. after reaching Kailash Cave Barrier, we have to travel 29 kms more on a unmetalled road in order to reach Bhainsa-Darha. The metalled one straight away goes to Kailash Cave after 6 kms.

                  Figure showing way to Bhainsa-Darha from Chainkoor Barrier(Kailash Cave Barrier)

The second way is from Gupteshwar i.e. from Jagdalpur to Gupteshwar(NH-30 route) it covers nearly 57 kms. From Gupteshwar, again you have to be in Machkote forest road itself and cover 12 kms more to
Koleng Sub-range of forest in order to reach Bhainsa-Darha.

                             Picture showing the location of Bhainsa-Darha (Extreme South-East)                                                           Courtsey: www.mapsofindia.com

For the ease of tourist, there are a lot of hotels in Jagdalpur providing cozy lodging and boarding and can provide some of the most exciting tourist packages all over in Central India. In addition to this, Govt. has also established motels and rest houses of CG Tourism Board and District Forest Department in the Head Quarter of Bastar.

The best time to visit this marvel is during winters to the start of summers.

Being at Bhainsa-Darha……
Having an extent up to 4 hectare of land on the Kanger River, Bhainsa-Darha is actually a natural lake famous as the natural habitat of Crocodiles and tortoises in Chhattisgarh. The area comes under the Koleng sub-range of forest which comes in between extent of Machkote range of forest and Kanger Valley National Park.

Being at Bhainsa-Darha feels like heaven. It’s like paradise appeared on earth. The whole place is covered by lush green forest of bamboo, where the inclination and bending of the tall bamboo tress over the lake, seems like the whole creation is bowing their head on the feet of GOD for creating such marvel. After covering a large distance and travelling all over valley,

Kanger River slows down before reaching Bhainsa-Darha. Here the water appears very calm and quite with hardly any movement of wild creatures nearby. But really if you wanna see them alive with a lot of moves, do take little amount of fish or ducks/gooses in order to offer as prey. Then only you will find the best moments of your journey and destination.

The known depth of this lake is 20 meters, so it is not advisable to go down and have some water sports. After covering some distance more, the beautiful Kanger River merges to river Shabari (Kolab) and puts an end of the journey of this beautiful valley.

Conclusion:
As this place, Bhainsa-Darha, comes between Machkote range of Forest and Kanger Valley Natinal Park, you can make one combined package and can enjoy the whole lush green dense forest beauty of Bastar.   

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Gupteshwar- A Cave Shrine

Gupteshwar – A Cave temple
(A blog by Jitendra Nakka)

Introduction
Chhattisgarh is full of surprises, and so the state of Orissa too. Chhattisgarh shares many relations with Orissa, whether it may be of geographical extent, geological extent, mineralogical extent, whether may be of art and culture, whether may be of sculpture and temples, whether may be of customs and traditions, lot of things are mutual in them. Even they share some common tourist places also. One such common but one of the most exotic tourist place of Chhattisgarh and Orissa is Gupteshwar.

                                                Gupteshwar- The Abode of Lord Shiva

Where and How to Reach?

Gupteshwar is approachable from two ways:

(1)    NH-30: Jagdalpur lies on the middle of Raipur-Vishakapatnam Highway. From Jagdalpur, we have to travel upto 22 kms more to reach the village called Dhanpunji(which is the last village of Chhattisgarh border). From Dhanpunji, there is a well-made metalled road(pakka road) which last upto railway crossing, after which our journey continues with unmetalled  road(kachcha road) upto 23 kms more, reaching a beautiful confluence of Machkote-Tiriya Sangam. After reaching Machkote, we have to travel on a dozen of kilometers more to reach our final destination near the bank of Shabari river called Gupteshwar.

                                        Figure showing location of Gupteshwar(South-East of Map)
 

                           Figure showing the exotic Machkote range of Forest(Bastar, Chhattisgarh)
                                           
 (2)    Jeypore Road: Another way to this marvel comes from Jeypore road. From Jeypore, this exotic site is nearly 55 kms away to the bank of Shabari river(also called as Kolab river in Orissa). Gupteshwar is a premium tourist site which lies in the Koraput District of Orissa. As for the ease of tourists, there is one comfortable rest house in Gupteshwar, with a good boarding and lodging. As OSRTC is doing excellent work in Orissa, reaching each and every corners of the state, we can enjoy our tour from state bus service also. If at all, any tourist opts Jagdalpur as a boarding centre by road (i.e. by NH), this place is nearly 120 km from Jagdalpur. Infact Jagdalpur is the most suitable and premium boarding and lodging destination for visiting any place nearby. For the ease of tourist, there are a lot of exotic hotels & motels providing cozy boarding and some great tourist packages all over Central and South-East India.

Salient Features of Gupteshwar:

Gupteshwar is actually a cave-shrine, an abode of Lord Shiva. But if you wanna make it upto here from Jagdalpur, you have to cover the lush green and dense forest of Machkote range of Forest of Bastar division of Chhattisgarh. Along the whole way, you can see a lot of flora and fauna, which will make your journey more thrilling at the time of returning back. Gupteshwar is actually a combination of different scenic spots
where the bank of Shabari(Kolab) river from either of the sides, the waterfall along the flow and the cave temple are most worth seeing.

 

Figure showing the exotic lush green forest of Machkote Range(Bastar, Chhhattisgarh)

 After reaching Gupteshwar from Machkote, we can see the gigantic stromatolitic dolomites covering the whole path of river flow. As the area is a kind of undulating site, there is a high gradient of river flow, cutting down the stromatolitic dolomite rocks and creating crocodile-skin weathering on their surface. Due to the display of this typical weathering on the rocks from both the banks, this place has got a fierce look and appears difficult to cross the river. But this is just a prejudice of a tourist; the rocks are spaced near to each other with the help of which, one can cross the river and can reach the cave shrine.After the bank, we have to walk over nearly 200 feet more to reach the market line of the place. Actually just in front of the temple, there are few small shops/hotels from where you can take materials of your interest and fill your appetite.

 

Figure showing the extent of Stromatolitic Dolomite rock at the bank of river Shabari(Kolab)

Just to the right of this market, lies the a road junction, from where going straight will lead to cave temple of
Gupteshwar and taking right will lead to the cave series of Gupteshwar. After reaching the front gate of Temple, you have to climb up near around 300 stairs to reach the entrance of this cave. The stairs after entrance takes you down to the centrally placed Shivling of near about 1.5m high.

                                                             Fig: Gupteshwar Temple

                            Figure showing the Centrally Placed Shivling at Gupteshwar Cave Temple

                     Figure showing the growth of Stalactites on the inner chambers of Gupteshwar temple

 One more way to the left of this shivling leads to the next chambers of this cave which add more beauty to this worth seeing cave shrine. The next chamber is comparatively larger than the adjacent chambers nearby. After walking nearly more than 20 feet, the slope of this chamber increases gradually with a sharp, wet and muddy surface leads you to a subordinate chamber having a dead end on its other end. The whole cave displays a beautiful play of stalactites and stalagmites somewhere developed, somewhere budding. But this is not the end of your destination, your journey; you have to walk back to the junction to reach the actual cave series of Gupteshwar.

Here, there are there are two caves, one of which has a narrow entrance, but, is very high in altitude. The later one is wider in comparison to the former one. The later cave is very worth seeing but lacks in proper display of stalactites and stalagmites. The central chamber of this cave leads to a minor chamber which is very small, nearly of 12feets of length, and 2 meters of height and width and leads to a dead end.

                             Figure showing the mouth of one cave of the Cave series of Gupteshwar

                             Figure showing the mouth of one cave of the Cave series of Guteshwar


Mythological and Religious Importance:
This place holds much importance for Hindu devotees, as this place is a divine shrine and abode of Lord Shiva. This place faces a gigantic crowd of devotees, worshippers and followers at the time of “Maha-Shiv Ratri”. People from all part of India reach here to bow their heads and receive blessings from Lord Shiva, the almighty.

                                         Figure showing followers moving ahead to Gupteshwar

                                                       Fig: Followers crossing river Kolab

                            Figure showing the scenic view of bank of river Shabari at Gupteshwar

 Mythologically, it is believed that Gupteshwar means “hidden GOD”. It is believed that Lord Ram, during his exile of 14 years reached Dandakaaranya forest and first found this shivling hidden in this cave. He was the first person to worship on this cave. The nearby mountain is called as “Ramgiri”. Kalidasa in his famous creation “Meghadoot” has also depicted the beauty of this beautiful mountain of Ramgiri.

Conclusion:

This place is one of the most important pilgrim of South-East Central India and shares equal importance from both Orissa and Chhattisgarh and one of the most important tourist and study site for researchers (speleologists).  

   

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Rani Cave Chitapur Jagdalpur

Rani Cave, Chitapur, Jagdalpur
(Blog by Jitendra Nakka)

Introduction

Coming down to the landscapes of Bastar, the first curious thing, of which we can talk about, is its bio-diversity. The exotic valleys, enchanting mountains, ravishing waterfalls, spellbinding dense forests, rich flora and fauna and its mysterious caves combine to form the bio-diversity of Bastar.  Talking about the famous caves series of Bastar, Kanger Valley is the king of caves in Bastar, but apart from this exotic valley, there are few more mountain series which are famous for caves, one among them is Chitapur mountain series which is famous for some of the most beautiful caves. One such cave is Rani Cave.

                                              Fig. showing the cave entrance behind the author

Where and how to reach?

This exotic cave is approachable from two ways:

(1)    NH-16: We can reach Chitapur from Jagdalpur-Hyderabad Highway. From Jagdalpur, Chitapur is nearly 25 kms away in NH-16.

(2)    NH-221: Chitapur is approachable from NH-221 also.  After reaching Tokapal, one has to cover a distance of 3 kms more to reach the entrance gate of Erindpaal  Gram Panchayat, which lies just left to NH-221(nearly 23 kms from Jagdalpur). From this entrance gate, we have to travel over the villages of Dhumaguda and Bade Kadma, and finally swinging down the valley road to reach the village of Chitapur. As we reach the Balak Ashram of Chitapur which lies to the left of a metalled road, we have to go back 200 meters back and follow a concrete road to reach the end of  village. But this is not how we have to reach our destination, after reaching the end of village along the concrete road, we have to follow a zig zag unmetalled untrodden single path, which after nearly 1 km, reaches  to a limestone mine(abandoned). To the other end of this limestone mine, there is a small hill. To the feet of this hill, lies the beautiful and mysterious Rani Cave.

As this exotic cave is very near to Divisional Head Quarter, Jagdalpur can be opted as the premium destination for lodging and boarding. Jagdalpur offers a lot of hotels and motels with good boarding facilities and some exciting tour packages. For the ease of tourist, Forest department also has made a beautiful rest house near the Head Office of Kanger Valley National Park. Chitapur is approachable throughout the whole year, but it is advisable and more over mandatory to visit this cave at the time of winters and summers only.

Being in Rani Cave:

Rani cave offers a premium destination for researchers to deeply analyse the growth procedure of Speleotherms. As usual, the entrance of this cave is very narrow with just a height of nearly 2 feet. There are three chambers of this cave out of which the middle chamber is the biggest. As we observed that the entrance is a very narrow task to enter, same is the case for first chamber which is nearly of 2.5 to 3 feet of height. This makes the way of first chamber a bit more difficult as there are a lot of boulder sized stones in the way around first chamber.

As soon as we reach the second chamber, we can observe that the chamber hall turns wider and the height of the chamber increases up to 6 - 6.5 feet in height. This chamber is the most beautiful chamber of this cave and displays the most beautiful play of budding of stalactites.

                                       Figure shows the growth of Stalactites(Middle Chamber)

                                 Figure shows the growth of stalactites behind Mr. Ashish Gadpale

                                       Figure shows the growth of Stalactites(Middle Chamber)

  As the floor of this chamber is covered by sand cover, it hardly displays any growth of stalagmites in this chamber. In the middle of this chamber, to the flow of water nearby, there are two stones having cylindrical and spherical shape, seems like stalagmite. This two stones actually hold the importance in this cave and are meant as “Shivlings”, so giving the cave, a look of abode of Lord Shiva.

                                                      Figure showing the Shivling like Stalagmites

One peculiar fact to be noticed is the presence of water on the sides of the chamber, gives you a kind of swampy look for this cave, but this is just a prejudice, as the sand cover has got mixed up with a lot of mud and has attained a bit not-so-loose surface in order to help the tourist to find the other end of the cave.

 
One more interesting fact about this cave is that this cave has two openings, due to which, unlike the other cave of Bastar division, there is availability of plenty of air-pass and air-supply.

To the end of this second chamber, the path way is quite wet and muddy, so we have to pass through side end of this chamber, in order to make it possible for the third and last chamber.

                                             Figure showing the last chamber behind the author

The third and last chamber makes our view a bit easy, as it receives adequate amount of light from the environment outside. This chamber is again divided into two small chambers, the inner one of which receives very less light from outside and can show some most beautiful structures in this chamber. Unlike the inner chamber, this outer chamber has very less amount of structures, but receives more light than the two chambers behind. Reaching this outer chamber, we can happen to see the other mouth of the cave or the other end of the cave, which is partially covered by plant cover. Removing them, we can come outside, with an endless memories of this marvel.

                                                                  Exit end of Rani Cave

Religious and Historical Importance:

According to one legendary story between the fellow villagers, once this place(Chitapur) was the capital of one dynasty and the quuen of that dynasty used to bath here near the small pond of Cave and used to worship the Shivling inside the cave, thereby getting the name "Rani Cave" after the queen of that dynasty
. During Maha-Shiv Ratri, this cave faces a huge crowd of followers and devotee people.

Conclusion:

Some people say that this cave has one more opening, as it is worthy to see the flow of water from the other end of cave and making a tiny pond like accumulation nearby. As this area is completely dominated by Dhurwa tribes, they believe that once at the time of “Bhoomkaal” revolt(1910 A.D.), nearly more than 100s or 1000s of this tribal fighters hided themselves in a group before attack against Govt. Hence, we can also say that the combination of geological phenomena with a historical and religious importance makes it more worthy to visit, watch and enjoy this cave.

Note: My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Ashish Gadpale for showing his courage and caliber in order to bring this photographs and data.

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Aranyak Cavern

Aranyak Cave, Chitapur, Jagdalpur

(by Jitendra Nakka)

Introduction

 Thinking, that, we have given you the best of Bastar, is just your prejudice ‘coz the best is yet to come and even we don’t know which one will be the best? Talking about the cave series of Bastar, the first name which comes in mind is Kutumsar Cave. But wait, there a lot of untold mysteries which are yet to be quest out… You may know few names as Kailash cave and Dandak Cave…but there are few more names which comes in the row, which are so untrodden, so unsung, so untold…that even locals (local people) are ignorant of them, One such name is Aranyak cave. 

                                    Fig: Picture shows Cave Popcorn (observed on the last Chamber)

 Where and How to Reach?

Other than the caves found in the Kanger Valley National Park, there are some more caves found nearby in the flebby and Cavernous limestones of the Chitapur group of mountains.

Aranyak cave is popularly known as “Rani Cave” between the local people. Aranyak Cave is reachable from two ways….(1) First one is Raipur-Jagdalpur-Hyderabad Highway (formerly was called as NH-16), i.e. from Jagdalpur, first of all, you have to reach Keshlur Junction (which lies 13km away from Jagdalpur in Raipur-Jagdalpur-Bijapur Highway formerly called as NH-221). From Keshlur, we have to travel 7km more towards Sukma-Hyderabad road to reach a mountainous region called Chitapur mountain series. This Chitapur mountainous region lies in the Gram Panchayat of Rajur(under Tokapal block of Bastar district). Starting your journey from Jagdalpur, Chitapur area lies to the right of NH-16,after which you have to go inside to the area, nearly around 5kms to reach a small village called “Madarkonta” (मादरकोंटा). This mysterious cave lies in the laps of the mountains of this village only.

                                             (C) Way to Cave from Schoolpara Madarkonta

(2) The other way is from the middle of Tokapal Bolck Head-Quarter. From Tokapal, a kachcha road goes deep to the left side to the Gram Panchayat of Rajur, from where again we travel down nearly 3 kms to reach the Schoolpara (स्कूल्रपारा) (A colony denoted by school of this village)of a village called “Madarkonta”(मादरकोंटा). From the school, this marvel is just 2 kms up to the nearest mount.

Facts and Belief

According to Dr. Suresh Tiwari, in the month of July 1996, the first rain washed out the mud and debris over the rocks of Mangalpur Mountain….thereby local villagers got to know about this 15 feet deep “aven” like structure(Aven means Pitch (vertical space), in rock or ice climbing). Hearing about the pit like shrine bring worshipped by the villagers, Dr. Suresh Tiwari and his fellow researchers went to Mangalpur Mountain and rediscovered this cave. 

                                            Fig Picture shows the aven (opening mouth) of Cave

Being in Aranyak Cave………

Reaching up to Madarkonta Schoolpara is not a difficult task but covering the 2kms up to the cave will test you patience in slippery boulder path that too having an inclination of nearly 25⁰ -30⁰ . As soon as you reach near the destination, you can see a small brook(nala) called Kosam  Jhodi (कोसम झोड़ी) on the right side and on the left side, we can observe a small hill called Mangalpur by the villagers. One more brook, you can see nearby the adjacent hill called Garhdel Jhodi (गढ़देल झोड़ी). Very near to this hill, climbing just 300meters up, we can see an aven in between the rock cuttings/fractures which is something around 18 feet deep and leads to this marvel called “Aranyak Cave”.

As we reach the bottom of the aven, to the left of it is a chamber bounded by walls from three sides. This chamber is a big hall comprises of stalactites from the two sides and the other one side comprise of stalagmites.

Just after 30 feets to this chamber, there is a small hole which is very thin and narrow but leads to one another chamber which is nearly 2-3 feet in height, 19feet long and 16 feet wide. This chamber is one of the best examples of developing stage of stalactites and artistically looks like thousands of shivling are held overturned and hanged just above us.  

                                     Figure shows the budding stalactites of developing chamber

                                    Figure shows the budding stalactites of developing chamber

Coming back again to the first and central chamber, moving on towards the third wall of the chamber, there is a small hole opening, after 43 feets down, leads to a gigantic marvelous chamber which is full of stalactites and stalagmites. Here in this chamber we can also observe one 10feet long stalagmite.

                                 Figure shows a beautiful growth of soda straws of the wall roof

                      Figure showing the growth of soda straws on the wall roof of  chamber
 

           Figure showing the displaced stalactite(from ceiling/roof) of around 10 feet of height

Taking a complete view, we can say, there are 2 big chambers accompanied by 4-5 young budding chambers. These two big chambers are developed giving the best view of developed stalagmites and stalactites. The other small chambers are in developing stage giving a deep analysis of the growth stages of a karst topography. 

                             

Conclusion: 

But do remember!!!! Entering a cave is not a child’s play, that too something like Aranyak Cave with a nearly vertical shaft like aven. But when the tourist comes out from such a  wonder, the best thing we can get from them is their loud cheers, their wild scream, their ultimate expressions telling about their wonderful experience in such a great marvel. They may call it “bhim ki gadaa”, they may call it “jhumar”, they may call it “Shivling”, but we know, they are geological phenomena, simply called as “stalactites” , “stalagmites”and “dripstones”.

Note: A part of this citation has been inspired by Dr. Suresh Tiwari’s book- “Bastar- Paryatan, Itihaas aur Sanskriti “. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Ashish Gapale for his caliber and courage shown for bringing these photographs

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Kailash caves Jagdalpur

Kailash Cave

(A blog by Jitendra Nakka)

Introduction

Bastar, being a plateau region, serves as the home of some of the most incredibly beautiful valleys namely Bastarnaar Valley, Darbha valley, Keshkaal valley e.t.c. Among these, one of the most beautiful valleys is Kanger Valley National Park. This park is one of the most awaited projects of state of Chhattisgarh, as the Govt. has given a proposal to Central Govt. to make this site as a “Bio-Diversity Heritage site”. It is not just because here we have some of the rarest species of flora and fauna, but because, here we have some of the most exotic natural caves. Although forest department and local people have found more than a half dozen of caves, but for general tourist, only three caves are opened for the sake of security of people. Forest department admits its responsibility to open other caves soon. These three caves are Dandak Cave, Kutumsar Cave, Kailash Cave. Next to Kutumsar Cave, the most desirable cave is Kailash Gufa(means cave).

 

        Figure showing Stalactites

Where and how to reach?

Kailash Cave is reachable from two ways. The first one is NH-16(Jagdalpur-Hyderabad Highway). Just after 28km on NH-16, there is a check-post of Forest department for the entrance of Kanger Valley National Park. After paying nominal charges, one can enter this National Park. After some distance, we can get one guest house of Kanger valley National park. From there, just after travelling 3kms to the way of famous Kutumsar caves, to the left of it, there lies a 12km long road which directly takes us to Koleng forest range no.75. There lies a series of small hills. Among one of this hill, there lies the beautiful Kailash Cave.

       Fig: Way to Kailash Caves (last 6 kilometers) 

The second way or the alternate way is the route from Jagdalpur to Netanaar via Sargipaal, Jaatam, Nangur, kawaali, e.t.c. Right at the entrance barrier of kailash caves (which is around 5km away from the cave)  , we can see one rest house where we can lose our fatigue for a while. Even below the hill where cave is located, we have the facility of rest and water. But as Jagdalpur is the nearest city, you have to get your food and other accessories from Jagdalpur itself.

                                               Fig: Way to Kailash Caves (last 6 kilometers)

Salient Features:

Kailash Cave came into light from 1993, whereas the people say that the local villagers came to know about it very earlier. The actual credit for revealing this cave goes to Forest guard – Sonsay, Rajaram Shivhare, watchman Sitaram, Gang-Superviser Jhaduram Yadav and Range officer Roshan Lal Sahu. Due to dusk, they missed to see it on 18 March 1993, but later, they came again on the site on 22 March, and found this marvel. As they went inside, they got fantasized by a entire world of conical karst structures, and seeing some of the structures as Shivling, they named it as “Kailash Gufa(means cave)”.

                                                 Figure showing the entrance mouth of Kailash Cave

From land surface, Kailash cave is formed nearly 40m above towards the hill. Uptill now, the known length of the cave is nearly 1000ft and the depth of the cave is 120ft. Bending down and entering to a narrow entrance, you can see some stairs made by forest department, for the ease of tourists. Just after entering inside, in the very beginning, before stepping down, I noticed development of some very young buds of stalactites.

Just after entering 100ft down, we can start seeing budding structures of Stalactites and Stalagmites. 

                                                                      Figure showing stalactites and stalagmites

These Stalactites and Stalagmites are generally formed in caverns(a geological term used for caves). As water drips from the roof of a cavern, evaporation leaves a small deposit of Calcium Carbonate (Calcite) behind. Gradually a cone shaped pillar of calcium-carbonate, hanging from the cavern roof develops. Such a deposit is called “stalactite”. Similar deposit also grows from the floors of the caverns where the limewater drops. Such inverted conical-pillar like structure is called “stalagmite”. When a stalactite and a stalagmite meet, a “column” is formed called “dripstone”.

                                                                                Figure showing Stalagmites

 If you can see some broken pieces of a stalactite, you can observe that sometimes in the cavities of rocks, the ground water deposits crystals of quartz, calcite or other minerals. This respective deposit is called “Geode” and structure is called Geode structure.

Going few meters ahead, we can observe the change in shape and size of the cavern as the chamber turns into 25 ft wide and 35 ft long hall, where one can observe greater colonies of budding and developed structures of stalactites and stalagmites.

                                                                                 Figure showing Stalagmites

Just after few meters, it seems like we have came to final chamber, which can be assumed to be 135ft long, 100ft wide and 25ft high. For a tourist coming such a place for the first time, seems like lost yourself in the world of fantasy….a complete new world…something like a dream which came true.  The whitish conical structures play such a magic that nobody can save himself, from getting lost in this dream world. 

Conclusion:

After coming out, people share their experience shouting, screaming, cherishing. Some people may call those conical structures as “Jhumar”, some people may call those dripstones as “elephant nose”, and some may call it as “Bhim ki Gada”. Numerous reactions, but only one wish,-“ I just love it…If ever I’ll get a chance, I’ll come back here again and again.

For the promotion of this valley, Forest department has made watch tower nearby this cave in order to enjoy the broad view of the valley side. Nearby one lake-like reservoir is there, which is called as “Kailash Lake”. Adding to the beauty of this valley, Bhainsa-Darha Crocodile Lake is also worth-seeing site.

Note: A part of this citation has been inspired by Dr. Suresh Tiwari’s book- “Bastar- Paryatan, Itihaas aur Sanskriti “

 

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