Gudiyam Caves

Introduction:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,                                                   
…  And miles to go before I sleep,

              ------ Robert Frost in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”

These might be the exact words that might cross one’s mind while on a trek to Gudiyam Caves.

“Gudiyam Caves” popularly known as a destination into a prehistoric world comprises of rocks and/or stone shelters of human ancestors who probably lived thousands of years ago. This place derives its name from the little village situated in its foothills named “Gudiyam”.  Gudiyam caves as it is famously called has been frequented by Archaeologists, Anthropologists, Geologists, tourists and trekkers from various parts of India and the world, each with their own objective and surprisingly this place provides enough content for all such curious seekers.

Gudiyam caves totaling sixteen in number provides an interesting infesting ground of knowledge for Anthropologists as this place is said to have been populated by pre historic men in ancient times. Ancient times here could mean thousands and/or millions¹ of years ago. With its virginity and ruggedness still maintained, it definitely impresses lay men and scientists alike for a worthy exploration.

Location – Where is this Gudiyam cave situated?

Surprisingly, with all its pristine rugged beauty, it stands with all of its majesticity very close to one of the biggest Metropolitan cities of India – “Chennai”. The village of Gudiyam is situated in the district of Thiruvallur, close to Poondi. Poondi reservoir is well known and is another famous tourist spot. The reservoir of Poondi is approx seventy kms from Chennai and the village of Gudiyam is around fifteen kms from Poondi. The largest town close to Poondi would be Thiruvallur. Gudiyam caves cannot be reached by vehicles and requires a trek of approximately three kms to four kms from Gudiyam village, with the help of some village folks. With sixteen caves situated in the hills, the trek to the caves can be energy consuming. The path is through a forest laden with pebbles. The greenery at Gudiyam is definitely a sign that not many tourists to Poondi have explored this site, but even those few who visit this place have made their presence felt by disposing polythene covers and other wastes carelessly.

What is Gudiyam? What is its Significance?

Gudiyam caves, as already stated takes its name from a village called “Gudiyam” on the foothills of these caves. Gudiyam caves is the name given to a group of sixteen caves that were said to have been occupied and used by prehistoric men thousands of years ago. The caves of rocks and stones provided shelter to these men against animals and nasty weather conditions. These mountains/rocks etc… are hypothesized to have been formed through volcanic eruptions. 

These caves serve an interesting purpose to anthropologists and archaeologists as the entire path that leads to these caves as well as these caves might be laden with not just pebbles and stones but actual weapons, stone tools and artifacts belonging to an entirely different age. The discovery and research of these have proved to be a huge victory and turning point in Indian archaeology as they prove the existence of man in Tamil Nadu, India more than half a million years ago².

Discovery of Gudiyam:

Gudiyam caves were supposedly discovered by Sir Robert Bruce Foote after his accidental discovery of Stone tools at Pallavaram in Chennai in 1863 followed by some artifacts at Poondi³. Sir Robert Bruce Foote was a geologist and his discovery of the Gudiyam cave was the first of its kind in India⁴. In 1963, Archaeological Survey of India excavated this Rock Shelter ⁵. Since then there have been several Archaeologists, Anthropologists, Geologists and free lance researchers who have visited this site and have written extensively about this place. Infact, the museum at Poondi which displays several of the stone tools and artifacts discovered at Gudiyam stands a testimony to the research carried out on this place. Even the University of Madras, Dept of Ancient History and Archaeology has experts who have done extensive research on Gudiyam.

What can one find at Gudiyam?

The trek from the Gudiyam village to Gudiyam caves is laden with pebbles and stones of various kinds, but if one thinks that these are just stones, he/she might be highly mistaken as one might have been walking over a bed or even a treasure house of knowledge in the shape of ancient stone tools. Good observation skills coupled with some basic knowledge of stone tools and pre history can lead one to find several full worked or half worked stones. “Worked Stone” here does not mean the work of nature but that of pre – historic men of ancient times. With keen observation of “Flakes” on such stones, patterns in such flaking and shape and size of such worked stones, one can identify interesting tools such as “Hand Axes”, “Cleavers”, “Borers”, “Scrapers” etc…

Experts say that this region is laden with a stone used to make these implements and call for the presence of cores. They place “Hand Axes” and  “Cleavers” as main components of Madras industries (one of the two industries of stone tools of Paleolithic age in India based on manufacturing techniques and geographical features)⁶. Experts also view the findings at Korttalaiyar valley in and around Thiruvallur, as belonging to this group⁷.

Why were these tools/caves utilized?

Living patterns change every few years even during our life time in the contemporary world, therefore life a million years ago would have been very different from what it is today. “Pre-historic men” as the ancient men are addressed lived in a very different world where they did not know agriculture and lived a nomadic life fearing animals and nature. Their main source of food could have been roots, fruits and animals. Raw flesh of animals must have formed a good portion of their appetite, and such raw flesh or even digging out roots could have been tough sometimes and use of such stone tools as “Hand Axes”, “Cleavers”, “Borers”, “Scrapers” etc… must have definitely come in handy. They might have not been the best invented tools but they might have definitely served their purpose. As necessity is said to be the mother of invention, the necessity to guard themselves against animals and still satisfy their hunger could have led them to develop crude but useful tools.

Further, to hide themselves from animals and nature’s fury they might have found themselves shelter in such caves and trees. Infact out of the sixteen caves that exist at Gudiyam today, archaeologists estimate that six caves must have been used as shelters by Pre historic men. Further, archaeologists also hypothesise that these caves must have only served as temporary shelters to a group of nomadic prehistoric men⁸.

Some of these tools discovered from these caves are displayed at Museums today. A visit to the Poondi museum might throw extensive knowledge on these tools and their hypothesized uses.

Flora and Fauna at Gudiyam:

Due to the occupation of Pre-historic men, one can hypothesise that this place must have been laden with a reasonable level of flora and fauna even in ancient days. There must have definitely existed trees/plants with edible fruits, edible roots and nuts. Further, small animals such as rabbits, rats etc… might have existed and Pre historic men would have satisfied their hunger through hunting these small animals with stone tools they manufactured. Today one can find several trees which serve as wood for the village folks. Snakes, rabbits and rats can also be found in abundance.

One of the caves has several bee hives and just in case these kinds of bee hives had existed during the time of Pre-historic men they could have served as good source for honey, provided they knew the technique of extracting honey.

Today, one does not find any source of water like rivers, lakes, ponds etc… but they could have existed during the ancient days. Rainwater and fresh water springs must have been a good source of water. Even today, when people clap hands it is hypothesized that water drops in a cave due to sound vibrations.

Contemporary Gudiyam:

Today, one of the larger caves is used by the village folks as a temple for Manachamman ( could have been derived from Minakshi Amman). The cave is nearly 110 ft in height with 200 ft in breadth and can hold close to 200 people at any given time. Village people frequent this temple during Chitrapoornima day and celebrate and worship the Manachamman goddess⁹.

Conclusion:

Gudiyam caves is a treasure grove of knowledge on ancient Pre-historic men, our ancestors. Surprisingly even though no bones and/or skulls were discovered here, this site still throws a lot of light on how the human race lived and emerged over centuries. This might be due to the fact that Gudiyam caves only served as a temporary residence to a nomadic group of our ancestors. More knowledge on these Pre-historic men will/should only make us feel proud that as a race we have come a long way and still have a long way to go. The place is slowly exploited by the contemporary generation. A place that might very well prove to be an example of Man’s Eco Friendly Nature might get lost as a Place of Man’s Eco Enmity. The caves have started becoming a dumping ground for polythene covers and other ecologically dangerous products. Destruction of these caves and stone tools might prove costly and can make us ignorant of an entire generation that existed thousands/millions of years before the contemporary human society.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

------ Robert Frost in “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”

The promises to keep would be promises to safeguard this beautiful testimony to the advancement of Human Race and restore and help conserve Gudiyam caves virginity.

 REFERENCES:

1. 1-9:  Sridhar, T.S, I.A.S. Poondi and Gudiyam Cave:  Pre Historic Sites of Tamilnadu, Kalvettu Magazine, Quarterly Journal Publication of Tamil Nadu State Dept of Archaeology., 2004.
2. www.google.com - search results on Gudiyam Caves