Wholly Holy Caves

We’ve all heard about it in Geography class at some point or the other; Stalactites, Stalagmites and all sorts of underground wonders existing in a world just below ours. These caves give, walking on holy ground all new meaning as they are not just a feast for the eyes but also nourishment for the spirit. Read on to find out more about these sacred caves at picked from all around the world.

Actun Tunichil Muknal, Belize

There are only two places you will find something as spectacular as Actun Tunichil Muknal. The first is in Belize, and the other is in a cinematic reel starring your favorite film personalities. Actun Tunichil Muknal (or Cave of the Stone Sepulchre) is the stuff of myth, challenging you to the very limits of your human endurance in every way imaginable, but if you do manage to pull through, the rewards at the end of it all are immense. Just as the destination is an end in itself, so to is the journey its own reward. The hours you spend inside this cave will see you hiking, swimming underwater and wading through water you can’t possibly swim across and after reaching a mile underground, the resting place of the crystal skeleton (called so because it is a perfect female skeleton caked in brown calcite over the years) becomes clear to you. A pilgrimage to the cave is a lesson in the ways of the Mayans, their ways and why they would offer human sacrifices to their gods deep in the heart of the caves. To choose not to visit the caves should be folly punishable by death, and you can take solace in the fact we don’t live in the time of the Mayans.

Elephanta Caves, Gharapuri Island, India

Would any mention of a list of sacrosanct caves be complete without a mention of the Elephanta Caves of India? Lying 9 kilometers to the northeast of the Gateway of India, the sashaying bodies of Hindu deities carved into rock are an impressive sight. It seems as if the gods were still moving to the tune of an ancient Indian rhythm even as they were being carved into the rock façade, and their expressions seem heightened even if stony. Labyrinthine in nature, the caves are carved into the native basalt rock of the Island and the artwork is as ornate and impressive, maybe more, than any all over India. The central temple is that of Lord Shiva, one of the holy trinity in Hindu mythology, and it is a fitting tribute for an immortal. The main focus is a giant 6 meter statue of Sadashiva shown as the creator, preserver and destroyer of the cosmos. The sight of Shiva in pondering, oblivious to the sea of humanity all around him, is breathtaking in its serenity. All of this, carved out of a hillside, remains one of the sights of India that will remain in your minds eye long after you leave the caves.

Longmen Caves, China

The grottoes at Longmen (or Dragon’s Gate) might be ravaged by forces both elemental and human, but it still represents one of China’s best representations of Buddhist rock carving with its caves, niches, inscriptions and pagodas. This masterpiece in craftsmanship was first taken on by chiselers hailing from the Northern Wei dynasty in AD 494. Over the span of two centuries, 100,000 likenesses of Buddha were given birth over a kilometer of limestone cliff wall on the banks of the Yi River. It was early in the 20th century that looters and trophy hunters made of with heads and entire statues, a large number of these finding their way to foreign shores. Slowly yet surely, respect and heads are being restored to severed pride but some that have been cruelly smashed in remain scarred forever, a dark reminder of the Cultural Revolution’s assault perpetrated by the Red Guards. Like the Bamyan Buddha, this too could have been lost forever, but fate decreed otherwise. And the world is a better place for it all.

Dambulla Cave, Sri Lanka

A complex of five Buddhist cave shrines, Dambulla is by far the most impressive of all the cave temples in Sri Lanka. Together, they are known as the Raja Maha Vihara and the largest of the caves houses some 48 statues of Lord Buddha, plus a number of statues of Hindu god. These date back to the 12th century, when Hindu ideology began to spread its wings in Sri Lanka and started to influence the local culture. The set of five caves were built under the rule of King Valagambahu, who took refuge in these saves while escaping the army that attacked Anuradhapura. For centuries since then, the caves have been a pilgrimage place of choice for millions if not billions of people. The painstaking attention to detail shines through here as expertly painted murals and sculpture dazzle the eye. What’s more, the celing murals that decorate the caves have been colored directly into the craggy face of the rock itself.

Corycian Cave, Greece

On the slopes of Mount Parnassus is where you will find this near-mythical cave named after the nymph Corycia. Legend has it that all of Mt. Parnassus is held sacred and that of all the caves and all of the places on it Corycian is the one most loved by the gods, and it isn’t hard to see why. A recent archaeological dig by a French team in 1969 unearthed a sew of precious objects, each one of rarer antiquity than the last. A Neolithic male figurine, bone flutes, terracotta figurines and bronze statues were just some of the finds and it’s nort surprising to have seen so much being excavated. The main cavern is humongous by any standard, measuring 60 metres in length and straddling 26 metres in width and the view of the plain as you begin your descent is sublime, make sure you take it all in as much as you can. Unless you knew it, you wouldn’t realize that the caves had been excavated recently as all signs of it have been removed, leaving the cave in pristine form, perfect and ready to be taken in by centuries more worth of visitors.

Bronze-Age Minoan Caves, Crete, Greece

Crete is home to several thousands of caves, several of them talked of as having key links to Greek mythology and the Minoan civilization that existed in the Bronze Age. Scattered all over Crete, one of the major caves is Kamares on the southern flank of Mount Ida. This can be easily seen from the palace at Phasitos and from the Mesara plain. Kamares has also lent its name to a line of pottery with complex patterns first discovered in the early 1890’s. There was a great deal of excitement surrounding this find, but a systematic search only occurred in 1913. But several decades passed on by before a proper examination of the discoveries from the excavaton were properly scrutinized to find out their importance and place in the activities that took place during that time in the Minoan civilization. Interestingly, a large variety of pottery styles as uncovered here which led to experts believing that the Minoans visited this cave and others for several centuries through out the bronze age. (3000-1100 B.C.), and the absence of any household tools proves that this was a sacred place for the Minoans. Even the few vases that were found there were in immaculate condition, which led to the hypothesis that the vases were just left there as part of a ritual after scarce usage.

St. Paul’s Grotto, Malta

It is A.D. 60 and St. Paul, at the time a prisoner, was shipwrecked on Malta and sought refuge in this tiny little cave. It was during this stay that St. Paul was said to have performed miracles and survived venomous snake bites, leading the locals to view him as a divine figure. The church itself was named in his honor even though it was the grotto under the church where he was holed up for three whole months. Remodeled  in 1692, the grotto is a major point of interest and it is said that the grotto walls have special healing powers and that the size of the grotto itself never changes no matter how much is scraped away. Others say that it was not St. Paul but an apostle of his that roamed this subterranean grotto and that St. Paul merely preached from here. The grotto has a few objects of interest, such as the statue of the saint himself, and the silver sculpture donated by the knights as well as some lamps donated by the Pope during his visit here. Saintly and serene, the underground abode is worth a visit and its holy connections only raises its profile.

St. Michael’s Shrine, Italy

Historically and spiritually of monumental value, St. Michael’s Shrine is an ancient one located on Puglia’s Gargano peninsula. Known locally as Monte Sant’Angelo, the shrine consists of a large cave and was visited by St. Michael the Archangel on multiple occasions, marking out the spot as one where pleas would be answered by one and all. A number of other shrines, among which are Mont Saint Michele in Normandy and Saint Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, owe its history and tradition to humble beginnings on Monte Gargano in the 5th Century. Royalty and commoners have all made the trek to this shrine and it is one of the most popular pilgrimages in Europe. Tales abound about the caves, including ones that talk about the Saint himself consecrating the caves, the sole time in history this has ever happened and the footprint in stone is said to be the Archangel’s himself. It was last in 1656 that St. Michael was said to have appeared before a bishop in order to avert a plague that had beset Southern Italy. That was the last sighting of the Archangel, but the unending stream of visitors bears out the esteem this venue is held in till date.

Grotte de Font-de-Gaume, France

Rediscovered by an intrepid group of people in September 1901, the entrance to the caves lies at the feet of a sheer limestone cliff and one of the big draws are the innumerable paintings that seem alive and vivid even if painted onto rock, and these date back to the Magdalenien period. The cave was lived in approximately 25,000 years ago during the Ice Age when mammoths and reindeer roamed freely, and so it is not surprising to see a majority of the paintings and engravings depict Bison, Mammoths and Reindeer. The most amazing part about these caves is to note the skill with which paintings have been done upon the rock, and these paintings have a three-dimensional facet to it, and it is a shame that only a fraction of these paintings are made available to the viewing public. Words themselves do not justice to the vitality of these paintings and it boggles the mind to think that it was painted in the muted lights of the cave’s interiors with barely professional tools. However, a large repository of pigments and painting materials were discovered, indicating an approach mirroring the professional ones of today, which is quite fitting for a tourist hotspot that is timeless for the ages.

Sof Omar Caves, Ethiopia

The Sof Omar caves are one of the most widespread and panoramic of underground cave systems anywhere in the known world, and it is a natural wonder of phenomenal proportions. It is one of those esoteric, hard to get to places that takes over hills and valleys lined with thorny trees and, if you’re lucky enough to go at the time of the year, blossoming flowers. But have no worries, for once you reach your destination the kilometers run by you (all 120 of them) will be well worth it. The caverns themselves have been formed by the Web River, which flows, twist and turns before vanishing into a subterranean region with deep-lying chambers. The caves are an important destination for followers of Islam and it is the saintly Sheikh Sof Omar who lends his name to the shrine. The site itself predates the influx of Muslims into the area and is a marvel with its colossal pillars, archways and airy heights. And all this leads to the river, a sunless silent sea gushing into a gorge. The cave is inhabited by all kinds of bats, crocodiles and crustaceans but they are of no harm as they prefer to migrate to the nearby river and the Sof Omar Caves, even if it weren’t venerated spiritually, would still have been a popular tourist destination for the vistas it offers, all for good reason.