List of Famous Caves in Goa
I know it isn’t something unusual, just a fact I could never associate with a place like Goa.
There are more than twenty caves in Goa and with observation, ancient. Of times much before they would have called this place Goa.
Human Created Caves in Goa
With the list of caves in goa, discovery has it that the early man moved in Goa, archaeologically through the area marked as NH-17 or from the Malaprabha – Ghataprabha region -from neighboring Maharashtra state.
Stone tools, microliths and Chalcolithic pottery in Goa are very concrete proof of early man residing in infamous caves in Goa – in the Malangini cave and at the basin of Mandovi at Shirgao. Yes. Also, in Malvan and Karwar, the adjacent regions of the neighboring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.
The list of caves in Goa is a most enlightening fact of prehistoric life!
Pansaimal and Kazur have rock carvings at points, and the look is that drawn by the early man. The first man was both a hunter and a gatherer of food. Then the hollow parts in and under trees and on land also were natural habitats of the caveman.
The list of caves in goa shows that Goa was, in the prehistoric times, a part of a region covered by the cavemen. Their settled life with agriculture and domestication of animals thrived in Goa. Maharashtra and Goa being so close to each other, the famous caves in goa share the fact that prehistoric man lived a naturally polygamous life and was a rake.
The imagination of the society and clearly their behavior emphatically illustrated in the beautiful carved caves and temples at Ajanta and Ellora.
The list of caves in goa shows their human-made nature. It also is noteworthy that only 4 to 5 of the listed ones were residential. Most others respectively were for religious purposes.
The caves carved in laterite, a clayey material formed by weathering of igneous rocks in moist warm climate.
1) RIVONA CAVE
Among the natural in Goa, one of the biggest is the Verna, Buddhist, can house 1200 people and must have been for assembly purpose. There are rock seats carved in such caves. Buddhism undoubtedly belonged to such cave and stonewalled places.
2) NARVE CAVE
Narve Here are in fact, three caves. There is a small ‘Garbagriha,’ and there is a Verandah with two pillars.
In this cave, a ‘lingam’ had found. The apex of this ‘lingam’ or phallus formed as a sitting Lion like that seen on the Ashoka pillar. This one among famous caves in Goa has a lion with an inscription written below it in “Brahmi” script that was prevalent in the 6th century AD. This lion is about 38 cm in height.
The other found cave also has a ‘Garbagriha’ with a phallus dating back to the early Chalukyan period.
3) LAMGAO CAVE
This cave seems to have been carved out as decomposed laterite as the texture is brittle. It has a shiv ling made up of stone, and there is a ‘tulsi Vrindavan.’
There is also a sculpture of a Nandi bull in the patio.
4) NETRAVALI CAVE
It is a monolithic cave. It carved intelligently- the main rock is, and the cave has a separate one.
There was a hall with space to sit and sleep. The entrance wall looks like a door can fix it. The entrance wall looks like a door can fix it.
The roof had been thatched with poles and had slopes to avoid rainwater inside. The walls have an excellent finishing.
5) ARVALEM CAVE (PANDAVA CAVE)
The 5th and 6thcentury A.D. saw the rock-cut caves of Arvalem. They also have mentioned in the mythological tales of the Mahabharata with the Pandavas taking refuge during exile in them.
There are some who believe that the Pandava caves complex has been carved out by the Buddhist monks.
6) KHANDEPAR CAVE
Built in the 10th and 11th centuries these are famous caves in goa that housed temples. An entire hillock carved into caves. These are massive, three are side by side, and one faces all these. It is like a complex in the olden days.
The roofs are designer-with tiers. The caves have wooden doors and have sockets, small spaces, seemingly for lamp lighting to look around when in the dark.
The rocks are carved insides with structures that resemble the Buddhist period.
The famous caves in Goa form the Goa. Where they were built and found has been an archaeological marvel. Most of us always had aware of caves in Maharashtra.
So puts Goa amongst the very olden spots in the history of humankind!
source: Appealing India
