Archaeologists unravel mysteries of Arjuna Loddi caves

HYDERABAD: Forests have held intact the secrets of ancient civilizations for ages. One such prehistoric marvel which has managed to conceal the footprints of an ancient civilization that flourished in the dense forests of the Kawal Tiger Reserve is the ‘Arjuna Loddi’ caves.

Historians and archaeologists, with the help of forest officials have unravelled the mysteries hidden in these caves last week.

Gonds and Paradhans of Mesramguda village in Tiryani mandal of Kumrambheem Asifabad district have always believed in the mythology about Pandavas and their exile in these forests.

Till today, the tribals here worship a limestone deep inside these caves as ‘Arjun Pein’ which refers to Arjuna as God. The startling aspect of the caves is that they are all made of limestone.

Climbing a treacherous terrain leads to the cave, which was explored up to 30-metre distance by MA Srinivasan, General Secretary of Public Research Institute for History, Archaeology and Heritage, along with Pranay, Ginnedhari Forest Range Officer.

According to Sreenivasan, the formation of caves had started during the neoproterozoic era, around 54 crore years ago, when groundwater continuously cut through the limestone layer, resulting in the formation of the caves anytime between 1,25,000 BC and 10,000 BC.

This theory has been supported by Ch Venugopal Rao, former Deputy Director, Geological Survey of India, who has observed that scientific research done on similar caves found in Kurnool could be taken as the yardstick to estimate when Arjuna Loddi caves were formed.

Another interesting aspect is the formation of stalactites, the icicle-shaped formations that hang from the ceiling of the caves and stalagmites, the formations which rise from the floor of the cave due to the accumulation of mineral deposited from the floor to the ceiling. The limestone revered as Arjuna Pein is one such stalagmite located in these caves. The explorers have also found stone-age tools like scrapers and other implements which were probably used by early humans from that period, when a prehistoric civilization flourished inside this forest. They suggest that Arjun Loddi is a perfect site for promoting eco-tourism and adventure tourism in the near future.