Meghalaya’s luxuriously rich flora and fauna, fuelled by some of the heaviest rainfall in the world, has been a wonderland for thrill-seeking travellers for decades. What was hitherto hidden, however, was an incredible system of subterranean caves that ran deep below the green hills in the Khasi, Jaintia and South Garo regions.
Photo: Vishal Sabharwal/Coloursofnature.in
Led by the intrepid Brian Dermot Kharpran Daly, a caver and wine-maker from Shillong, the Meghalaya Adventurers Association began exploring and mapping the caves in 1992. Now more than a thousand such caves, including South Asia’s 10 longest cave systems, are open for any traveller. Nothing can prepare you for the thrill of a vast underground world—rivers and creeks run through them, crystal-clear ponds appear out of nowhere, “cave pearls”, perfect calcite spheres, are scattered along the path, massive stalactites and stalagmites hang majestically, and an incredible variety of sculptured rock formations, millions of years in the making, offer limitless visual delight.
Then there is the sheer excitement of being deep in the underbelly of the hills, exploring tiny passageways and massive halls, squeezing through rock formations, rappelling down narrow shafts, or following a subterranean river, all in the spooky light of headlamps.
For the East Khasi hill caves, Cherrapunji forms the base. Krem Mawmluh, just half a kilometre away, features a large subterranean river system, and Krem Phyllut has a massive “fossil passage”, an older area of the cave through which a river once ran.
Jowai, a hill town that forms the base for caving in the Jaintia Hills, is 64km from Shillong along the Shillong-Silchar National Highway. Krem Um Lawan, the longest and deepest cave in India, is the main attraction here. It dates back to the Eocene Age (35-56 million years ago), and has some spectacular cataracts and waterfalls.
For the caves in the South Garo hills, Tura, a town situated at the base of Nokrek mountain, is used as a base. Siju Dobakkol, the third largest cave in India, and home to thousands of bats, is probably the most popular caving spot in the country.
Getting there
Air India flies Kolkata-Shillong, and return airfare starts from Rs. 24,320 (ex-Delhi) and Rs. 21,142 (ex-Mumbai). The Meghalaya Adventurers Association, based out of Hotel Centre Point in Shillong (for details, call 364225210), provides caving guides and equipment, as well as customized packaged adventure tours.