Edakkal Caves are two natural caves located 1000 metres high on Ambukutty Mala 25 km from Kalpetta in the Wayanad district of Kerala in India’s Western Ghats. They lie on an ancient trade route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the Malabar coast ports. Inside the caves are pictorical writings believed to be from neolithic man, evidence of the presence of a prehistoric civilisation existing in this region. Such stone age carvings are very rare and these are the only known examples in southern India.
Petroglyphs
These are not technically caves but rather a cleft or rift approximately 96 feet by 22 feet, a 30 foot deep fissure caused by a piece of rock splitting away from the main body. On one side of the cleft a rock weighing several tons has fallen over the fissure forming a roof. The carvings are of human and animal figures, as well as of tools used by humans and symbols, suggesting they were created by a highly civilised prehistoric people.
The petroglyphs inside the cave are of at least three distinct types. The oldest may date back over 8000 years ago. Evidence indicates that the Edakkal caves had been inhabited at several different times in history.
The caves were accidentally discovered by Fred Fawcett in 1890 who immediately understood their anthropological and historical importance. He subsequently wrote an article about them, attracting the attention of scholars.
Tourism Information
- Approximate time required to climb till top of the hill and down: 3-4 hours.
- Entry to the hill closes by 4 PM.
- Departmental Jeeps can be hired to travel initial few km till the foot of the hill..
- Other nearby places- Soojippara water falls, Sultan Bather, Matunga Wildlife Sanctuary.
Get around
- Bus – Plenty of local bus services are available for transportation between the townships. But if you want to go to some tourist places you have to rely on a taxi.
- Autorickshaw – Autorickshaws are cheaper compared to taxis and can be used to reach the interior places from the townships.
- Taxi – Local taxis are also available at cheap rates (In Wayanad, the term Taxi is mostly in reference with Jeep).
- Car – You can hire a car from most of the townships if you want to travel effortlessly.
- Walk – Many places of attractions are nearby the towns so you could walk between them.
I visited this place 5 yrs back, that time, they did not allow photography, how did u manage to click snaps?
The water there is very cold, and when you try to do rock climbing you need to be careful, the stones have been cut for grip but due to weathering all the gripping places have sand in them, the possibility to slip is very high
This is just wondefull. We have many unknown places yet to be explore. This is the first time I read that India too have these prehistoric caves or civilization
Thanks mam, plz settledown in your life peacefully
Thankyou for the trip in time & back from 8000 years !!!
dlpsharma1@yahoo.com
wat a beautiful caves i want to go there
Wow wat a beauty places and thanks published and also well thanks to photograper
nice .. I wonna to go n enjoy this place..
hiiiiiiii this is outstanding . i want to see the caves
It is fascinatig and ejoyable.Unfortunately not much publicity is given to popularise for tourism.
nagesh
That’s just WONDEFULL. Kerela GODS OWN LAND.
Thank you once again for the photo tour.
this is good and sexy
What a wonderful group that makes us aware of all such places which are relatively lesser known but exciting none-the-less!
THANKS FOR SENDING ME BEAUTIFUL CAVES PICTURES
SUPERB!!!!!!!!!!!!! WORTH A PLACE TO VISIT!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks you.
An unparalleled beauty hidden on this cliff range.. A serene atmosphere to relax and rejuvenate.. I wish if I could go there with a group.. If there are willingness from anybody, we can plan…..
hey thats a cool place…..i like to go to such prehistorice locations….maybe wil visit there some time
WORTH PLACE TO VISIT.I TOO WANT TO VISIT AFTER SAW THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Wonderful and great work. Thank you.
what do the scripts carved in stones tell about?
it is a beutiful place to the history of kerala. thank you for the wonder message i got.
THE PHOTOS WERE GOOD TO SEE HOW OUR HUMAN DID THIS NICE WORK.
THE PHOTOS WERE SO NICE TO SEE AND THINK HOW OUR OLDEN DAYS HUMANS DID THIS WORKS.
wav its amesing n fantastik n superb n very very fine
jag
BAHOT ACHHA
thanks for calling back my golden memories.
These are truly beautiful pictures
These caves are little known ones. Very good photography. u deserve gratitude for presenting these ancient monument to the public. I will try to visit when I come to Kerala, A historically valuable monument telling how our ancesters lived in that time.
Excellent information.
NICE PLACES
YEAH WE HAVE MANY PLACES YET TO SEE LIKE THIS.SURELY ONE SHOULD LIKE THIS TYPE OF MOUNTAINS.
Awesome !! Must See This Place.
An unknown or rather unpublicisized place of wonder worthy of visit
hi i am nasir from pakistan
REALY A FANTASTIC VIEW OF THE UNFORSEEN SCENERY ON THE EARTH !!