Mahendra Cave

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Entrance to the cave, March 2013

The Mahendra Cave ( Nepali महेन्द्र गुफा ) is part of an extensive cave system that is located north of Pokhara in Nepal .

description

Flying bat in Mahendra Cave, May 2016

The karst cave is located in the limestone massif of the northern valley of the Seti Gandaki in the descent of its left tributary, the Kali River , at an altitude of about 900  m . It is about two hours' walk from Pokhara.

The cave has so far been developed over a total length of 242 meters and extends over a height difference of 15 meters. There are other caves in the immediate vicinity, the Kumari Cave and the Bat Cave .

The cave is always wet, and the water dripping from the ceiling forms stalactites . Bats , spiders , lichens , mosses and olms have settled.

history

Viewing group, 2015

The cave was discovered by a shepherd in the 1950s and has been used for tourism ever since. It was the first and for decades the only show cave in Nepal. Through this use, it was intensively exploited economically over time. Souvenir hunters have robbed them of a large part of their sintered jewelry , especially the stalactites , which had grown over the millennia , and thus of their greatest attraction. Only a few stalagmites remain , which the Indian pilgrims sprinkle with vermilion tikka powder, as they are considered phallic symbols in traditional beliefs .

today

Many thousands of visitors are drawn to the cave that was named after King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev every year . There is now electric light for guests and a staircase hewn out of the rock for access. A bus regularly takes visitors there in ten minutes. Entry costs 20 to 100  Nepalese rupees .

literature

  • Helga Hartmann: The Mahendra Cave near Pokhara. A show cave in Nepalese. In: Speleological communications of the State Association for Speleology in Vienna and Lower Austria (HKM). Vol. 53, 1997, No. 4, pp. 91-92.

Web links

Commons : Mahendra Cave  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Mahendra Gupha Cave, Pokhara at nepal-visit, accessed on June 20, 2017.
  2. ^ Franz Lindenmayr: Höhlen bei Pokhara, Nepal , accessed on June 20, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c d Nepal: Mahendra Cave , accessed June 20, 2017.
  4. ↑ Vaclav Cilek, Daniel Gebauer: The caves of the Cobhar Gorge near Kathmandu (Nepal). In: The cave. Journal of Karst and Speleology. 1988, No. 39, ISSN  0018-3091 , p. 15 ( PDF ; 2.7 MB).
  5. ^ A b Dave Reed, James McConnachie: The Rough Guide to Nepal. DuMont-Reiseverlage, Ostfildern 2013, ISBN 978-3-7701-6720-3 , p. 226 ( digitized version ).

Coordinates: 28 ° 16 ′ 17.9 ″  N , 83 ° 58 ′ 46.6 ″  E