Caves and culture
Caves, formed by the continuous weathering of rocks, have grabbed human attention from ancient times because of their darkness and shelter. In India, according to Hindu mythology, Pandavas also found refuge in the caves of Pachmarhi (five hills). Few tribes in Vietnam continue to live inside caves away from all the hustle-bustle of metropolitan life. As humans have unrelenting use of caves for different purposes, numerous stories are linked to their existence and life in caves. One exciting tale comes from the land of the Gond community, “Gondia”.
In the lap of the tropical dry-deciduous forest is Dhanegaon, a Gond village known for the “Kachargadh” caves. Kachargadh is religiously known for its metamorphic formations- a cave complex with few known caves and many yet to be explored. According to an Indian Legend, “amongst the treasure of tales, our country possesses one such unfamous Gond prophet “Paari Kopar Lingo”. The epic begins in the Satpura (Seven hills) of Central India.
Amid twelve hills, there are seven valleys known as the Lingan. In that strange place, “the caw-caw says there is no crow, chirp says there is no bird and roar says there is no tiger,” as the legend describes. The story begins with Mahadeva’s (one of the principal deities of Hinduism) twelve years of meditation (tap), and from the boil (puss-filled bump) of Mahadeva’s hand, ‘Kalia Adao’ is born. Kalia Adao himself then repeats this long extended meditation, and sixteen daughters are born from his own hands, which disappoints him. Unhappy with the birth of these daughters, he throws all of them in a water body. After drying up, these sixteen daughters became the six soils we see today in Central India: alluvial soil, Black cotton soil, laterite soil, sandy soil, murrum soil, and gravel. Kalai Adao then again did meditation, and this time, they were the seven which later came to be known as the ‘Gond Gods (Saat deve)’.
Another epic of Goddess ‘Kali Kankali’ describes how her 28 children wandered off from a hermitage of Raitad Jango (female community leader) and got lost in the forest of Kachargadh. Then they were found by Sambu Madhav and his wife, Gaura. One day, the children were pestering Gaura for breastfeeding; and hence Sambu released a monitor lizard to distract them. The children chased the monitor lizard into the cave, and Sambu closed the cave mouth with a huge rock. They remained imprisoned for twelve years, and Sambu fed them through the sinkhole of the cave.
Because of this act towards her children, the Goddess Kali Kankali attacked Sambu and Gaura, riding on a lion. Gaura, in return, released a pack of wild dogs. Seeing the wild dogs, the lion ran away, and the Kankali fell, losing her strength. Kankali’s brother Payandi Pari Kopar Lingo, who was meditating in a nearby cave, talked with Sambu regarding the release of Kankali’s children. The latter agreed to release the children on a condition that Lingo would have to educate them. He, however, expressed inability to move the rock he had used to close the cave. Looking at this, the Lingo realized that the only way the children could be freed was if they could themselves push away the stone blocking the entrance of the cave. So he fetched a musician and “kingri” (tribal musical instrument) player from the village Dhanegaon, who sat near the opening of the cave and started playing “veer rasa” music to inspire the children with courage. When the children heard the music, they pushed the stone. Lingo then took the children – who became the founders of the various Gond clans – under his guidance.
Hence, the people belonging to the Gond community visit the caves every year to worship Pari Kopar Lingo and remember his contribution to saving the Gond gods. The people of Gond clans follow totems and are directly linked with biodiversity. Their origin in the forest lands of Central Provinces brings them more closely related to nature. The Kachargadh cave is a place of faith and supports biodiversity. These caves support a population of Bats (unidentified sp.) and birds. One such bird is Dusky Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne concolor), whose nests in the entrance zone of the cave were observed during a visit to the region. I also observed giant honeycombs outside the cave entrance.
Along with being a habitat to several species, the Kachargadh caves are a geological wonder. Large basaltic rock formations exist throughout Vidarbha, part of the 66-million-year-old volcanic Deccan traps. The Bhandara and Gondia district is entirely occupied by metamorphic rock and alluvium. Gondia district is unique in Maharashtra, as the entire area of the district is occupied by metamorphic and igneous rocks. A significant part of the district is occupied by the crystalline rocks of Pre-Cambrian formations underlain by crystalline rocks comprising granitic gneisses, schist’s, volcanics and others. These formations act as good aquifers only where the thickness of the weathered mantle is high, and they are affected by sets of open joints and fractures. The Pre-Cambrian crystalline rocks are the primary water-bearing formations in the district, and the weathered portions of crystalline rocks together with joints and fracture zones act as good aquifers. Groundwater occurs under water table conditions in the weathered mantle and the fractured, well-jointed and sheared zones. It explains the highest number of wetlands in Gondia and the adjoining district of Bhandara.
The Kachargadh cave also has a continuous stream flowing from the dark zone, and the water gets collected in the pool at the cave entrance. However, the inlet of the water is unknown and needs further geological explorations. Additionally, Hajra waterfall is a famous tourist attraction and also has voids and small caves near it.
It is essential to identify such areas for conservation by understanding the geological, ecological and cultural significance. Further, as such regions have high tourism, a proper management plan can help protect the natural resources and provide sustainable livelihoods to the local communities.
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