BUMZOO CAVES NEAR MATTAN KASHMIR

                                                         
 PHOTOGRAPHS  By Autar Mota 

BUMZOO is a small sleepy village just two killometres from Mattan in Lidder valley. In case you go to Pahalgham from Anantnag via Mattan Bye pass , the village is exactly where the Mattan link road intersects the main road .Two caves of Bumzoo are worth mentioning . One cave is just 1.5 Kms from Mattan town . This cave is about 7 metres from road height and is wider once you enter . After about 15 metres it branches into two further caves , one straight and the other to the left. one comes across some man made stone structures in both these caves . It appears that they could have been used by meditating hermits .Nothing more attracts your attention . Yes the cave is pitch dark , Full of insects and foul smell.As a matter of fact one needs to go inside carefully . You need torches , jackets and shoes . You also need to cover your nose and head. The cave has paucity of oxygen . I went without aids and had to bear acute throat infection for one full month. My other friends Ashok khazanchi and Ashwini Bangroo went well prepared later on . Nothing needs to be photographed in this cave . The entrance of the cave is visible on right side of the base of the hill from road at a point just 1.5 km from Mattan Bazar.

 The other cave is the Old shiva temple of Bumzoo . kalhana too makes mention of this cave temple in his Rajtaringini.The temple is about 50 feet from road overlooking river Lidder.The temple is inside an natural enlarged fissure of limestone cliff.The door of the temple has the usual Hindu Triad (found in Kashmir Stone temples )at the top flanked by two stone carved window type structures . In front of the gate is a gallery or verandah for sitting and the same is fenced now. The Verandah or the gallery is tiled with Devri stones. A flight of about 150 steps takes you up from the road to the Cave entrance . Inside the cave lies a plinth at the extreme corner where a small shiva temple approached by a short flight of steps exists . This cave is not as long as the first cave but is quite high and wide . It is also not so dark. This cave temple is a protected monument looked after by archeological survey of india . This cave temple is older to 8th centuary Martand Sun temple built by king Lalitaditya .A smaller cave also exists at the bottom of this cave temple but it is insignificant and has been closed with wooden gate.I have photographed this cave temple from many sides . The road below the cave temple has also been photographed .The view appearing a little darker is innner view of the shiva temple with steps leading to the santum sanctorum . I end this post with a  Kurdish poem "Tunnel "by  Sherko Bekas..

 (Tunnel )

Beneath the surface of this exhausted

and wounded soul

the hours of exile

are like the wagons of a train

connected to each other.

Every day they travel back and forth.

At the station of waiting, at the station of farewell

their restless doors continuously

open and close me.

Every pain that gets off

is replaced by a hundred new ones.

Such a long tunnel of exile! where is it leading me?

Tears well up behind my eyes, but it is leading me.,

leading me., leading me

(  Sherko Bekas ...Translated from original Kurdish  )

Autar Mota 

POSTED BY : VIPUL KOUL

ARTICLE BY : Autar Mota