Karst cave
| Location: | At Kolimigundla Mandal (Kolimigundla village) near Belum village. 110km from Kurnool via Banaganapalle on the state highway. |
| Open: | |
| Fee: | |
| Classification: |
Karst cave
|
| Light: | electric |
| Dimension: | L=3,225m, HD=29m. |
| Guided tours: | L=1,500m, D=60min. |
| Bibliography: | |
| Address: | Belum Caves, Tel: +91-, Fax: +91-, |
| Last update: | $Date: 2008/07/01 20:25:25 $ |
| 4500 BC | remnants of vessels of that age were found in the caves. | |
| ???? | occupied by Jains and Buddhists. | |
| 1884 | existence of the caves recorded by Mr Robert Bruce Foote. | |
| 1982 | explored by the German Daniel Gebauer. | |
| 1983 | explored by the German Daniel Gebauer. | |
| 1988 | the entire area was declared protected by the Andhra Pradesh Government. | |
| 1999 | development of the cave by Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation started. | |
| FEB-2002 | cave opened to the public. | |
| JUL-2002 | Musical chamber discovered. |
Belum Caves are named after the old Sanskrit word for cave, Bilum. It seems the nearby village Belum was also named after the caves. In the local Telugu language it is called Belum Guhalu.
Belum caves were recently developed by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). The state spent 10 Mio Rupia to develop the cave with a staircase and three ventilation shafts.
Saptasvarala Guha or Musical chamber was recently discovered.
Its peculiarity are apparently the metallic sounds of the stalactites.
Not really special, as all stalactites on earth sound like this when hit with a
wooden stick or the finger knuckles.
Many show caves make this a tourist attraction and tour guides play a melody on
the stalactites.
Luray Caverns
in the U.S.A. even has a Stalacpipe Organ, a mechanic organ for playing
on stalactites.
The cave is entered by a staircase down a sinkhole to a level about 20m below ground. Most of the cave system is developed at this level, and the tour path is rather level from now on, following the main passage.
As it is uncommon for foreign tourists to visit the caves on their own, the APTDC offers package tours for Ahobilam, Alampur, Mahanandi, Srisailam, Mantralayam and other places. The one day trips by coach include the coach ride, the cave visit and other sights.
The novelty of the cave and the immense advertisement resulted in a real rush to the cave. In the first six months the cave was visited by more than 60,000 people, and each Sunday 3,00 people visit the cave.
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