മലയിൽ കള്ളൻ ഗുഹ

Malayil Kallan Guha

Useful Information

Location:	Munnar-Thekkady GAP Road, Chinnakkanal, Idukki, Munnar, Kerala 685618. On the Lockhart Gap Road, 200 m east of the turnoff to Idukki. Not far from the Lockhart Gap Viewpoint. 14 km from Munnar. (10.037010, 77.129190)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Fracture Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	M.J. Babu (): Munnar, Charithram, Visheshangal, .
Address:	Malayil Kallan Guha, Munnar-Thekkady GAP Road, Chinnakkanal, Idukki, Munnar, Kerala 685618.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1954	filming location for the film Malaikallan with Tamil superstar M. G. Ramachandran.

Description

മലയിൽ കള്ളൻ ഗുഹ (Malayil Kallan Guha, Mountain Thief Cave) is also known as റോക്ക് ഗുഹ മൂന്നാർ (Raaakku Guha Moonnaar, Rock Cave Munnar). It is a cleft between two boulders, a typical fracture cave with a triangular shape. It is developed with a trail and a staircase leading to the entrance, but has no light and is visited self-guided. On the other hand, while big for a fracture cave, it is actually not really big. It is 4.5 m high but only a meter wide at the bottom, and it is rather short. There are no speleothems, obviously, the uniqueness of this geotope requires a littel understanding of the geologic situation. Unfortunately the signs only tell the story about the robber, and give no other information.

While this cave actually has no dark section, the crack has several narrow openings at the top, we nevertheless recommend bringing a lamp. It is located right at the road, and thus it is very easy to visit. There is also a small tea and snacks shop nearby. Visitors of cave and café park along the road.

Like any other Thief Cave, this one has the same legend: the cave was frequented by a thief named Thankayya, later he was called Malayil Kallan (mountain thief). Some say he used the cave to stash his stolen good. Others say he used it as a hideout when he robbed travellers passing on the road. He was a sort of local Robin Hood and gave it to the poor. Thankayya came from Tamil Nadu before Independence. After India became independent, he worked as a plantation worker in the Palliavasl tea estate. The Devikulam police tried to arrest him on charges of robbing a neighbour, so he fled and lived in hiding in the cave. There are two versions of his death, the first says he was killed by police, the other he was killed by a woman in Tamil Nadu.

If the robber actually existed is unknown, probably the whole story is just fantasy. Another speculation is that in ancient times, saints used the cave for meditation and prayers. Even more fantastic is the story about an underground connection to Devikulam temple. The orientation of the cave actually fits, but it is obviously not 4 km long. This is the classical Smile Far Connection Legend, and it seems that Indians are particularly prone to this superstition. Fact is, on the other hand, that the cave was used as a filming location for Bollywood movies. One was the 1954 film Malaikallan with Tamil superstar M. G. Ramachandran.