The breathtaking Borra Caves
ONE of the lesser-known wonders of India are the magnificent Borra caves in the Araku Valley of Ananthagiri hills in the Eastern Ghats, 100 km from the coastal city of Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The caves, standing at an elevation of 2,313 ft and extending to a depth of 260 ft, are a geographical marvel. They feature among the largest, deepest, and most ancient caves in the country. The caves are also known for their unique collection of irregularly shaped stalactite and stalagmite formations that take on different shapes at different angles in the interplay of light and shadows in the subterranean world, providing a visual feast for the visitors. The Borra caves have a long and interesting history. They are basically limestone structures that have been formed by the pressure exerted by the Gosthani river flowing down the Ananthagiri hills. Humic acid in the water reacted with the calcium carbonate in limestone of the hills and dissolved the minerals, gradually breaking down the rocks. The perennial water flow over the centuries led to the formation of the caves, which are believed to be not less than 150 million years old. But interestingly, the world did not know of their existence until 1807, when they were discovered by British geologist William King, in the course of an expedition for the Geological Survey of India. Subsequent excavations by 20th-century anthropologists unearthed tools made of stone, belonging to the Middle Paleolithic Age (30,000-50,000 years ago), indicating human habitation in the surrounding areas. The caves are locally known as Borra guhalu (guhalu meaning‘cave’ in Telugu). The name Borra, meaning ‘hole’ in Oriya, is believed to refer to a hole in the roof over the central area of the cave. According to a popular legend, it was a tribal cowherd who discovered, the cave, while searching for his missing cow, which had fallen through this hole. He was amazed to find the cow unhurt after a fall of 200 ft. On spotting a formation resembling a Shivalinga inside the cave, he attributed it to Lord Shiva’s grace. When the tribal community heard the story, they set up a Shiva shrine on the spot and began regular worship there– a practice that continues to this day. The cave measures up to 330 ft horizontally and 246 ft vertically at the entry. On going inside, one is confronted with a variety of elongated icicle-like structures, some jutting out from the roof and others growing up from the floor of the caves. These formations, known as stalactites and stalagmites respectively, are mineral deposits formed by the dissolution of limestone through water percolation.
Their interesting shapes have captured the viewers’ imagination, and have been described as ShivaParvati, mother-child, a church, a crocodile, a tiger, a cow’s udder, and the human brain, to mention a few. Efforts are under way by the Archaeological Survey of India and the Andhra Pradesh Tourism department to get the Borra caves included among the UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.
