{"id":100082,"date":"2026-04-24T17:06:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=100082"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:07:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:37:25","slug":"belum-caves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/belum-caves\/","title":{"rendered":"Belum Caves, About, Location, Formation, Important Features"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Belum Caves<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are the <\/span><b>second largest cave system in the Indian subcontinent<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><b>longest caves in the plains region<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, known for their spectacular <\/span><b>stalactite and stalagmite formations, long passages, and historical significance as a Buddhist\/Jain meditation site.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Belum Caves Key Details<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Location<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Belum Caves are located in <\/span><b>Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in a flat, semi-arid agricultural landscape. They are also locally known as <\/span><b>Belum Guhalu.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Discovered by<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The caves were first recorded in <\/span><b>1884<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by <\/span><b>Robert Bruce Foote.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although identified in the 19th century, they remained neglected for decades. Scientific exploration and mapping were later undertaken in 1983 by German speleologist Herbert Daniel Gebauer along with Indian researchers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Excavations during this phase revealed pottery, tools, and artefacts dating back to around 4500 BCE, establishing their antiquity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Formation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Belum Caves are formed due to long-term action of underground water on limestone rocks, making them a prominent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/karst-landforms\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>karst landform<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Over thousands of years, water from the <\/span><b>Chitravathi River<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> percolated through limestone layers, gradually dissolving and eroding the rock. This process created an extensive network of:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Long horizontal passages<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Narrow galleries and siphons<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Large underground chambers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freshwater streams<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The caves are especially rich in speleothems, which are mineral deposits formed inside caves, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Stalactites<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 Hanging formations from the ceiling<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Stalagmites<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 Rising formations from the ground<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The deepest point inside the caves is known as <\/span><b>Patalaganga<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, located about 150 feet below the entrance level.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Belum Caves Important Features<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Belum Caves are characterized by diverse and well-defined chambers and rock formations created by prolonged underground water activity, each reflecting unique geological processes and cultural associations.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Simhadwaram (Lion\u2019s Gate)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A natural arch resembling a lion\u2019s head, formed by stalactite structures.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Kotilingala Chamber<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Contains thousands of formations resembling Shiva lingams, along with a massive pillar formed by the fusion of stalactite and stalagmite.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Saptasvarala Guha (Musical Chamber)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Produces musical notes when the formations are tapped, due to acoustic properties.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Patalaganga<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A perennial underground stream marking the deepest accessible point.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Dhyan Mandir (Meditation Hall)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A spacious chamber associated with meditation practices of monks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Saint\u2019s Bed<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A rock formation believed to have been used by ascetics for meditation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Thousand Hoods<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Stalactite formations resembling the\u00a0 raised hoods of cobras.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Banyan Tree Hall (Voodalamari)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A structure resembling a banyan tree with hanging roots.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Mandapam<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A large hall-like chamber with pillar-like rock formations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d35xcwcl37xo08.cloudfront.net\/current-affairs-wp-uploads\/2026\/04\/Belum-Caves-Feature.webp\" alt=\"Belum Caves\" title=\"Belum-Caves Feature\" class=\"my-image my-image-size-full my-image-align-center\" style=\"width: auto; height: 580px;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Belum Caves in Andhra Pradesh are India\u2019s longest plains caves, known for limestone formations, long passages, chambers, and rich historical and geological significance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":99931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[7112],"class_list":{"0":"post-100082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-studies","8":"tag-belum-caves","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100082"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100101,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100082\/revisions\/100101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}