Entry limited at Edakkal caves

KOZHIKODE: The experts from Archeological Survey of India have decided to open the Edakkal Caves in Wayanad only to limited number of visitors from Saturday onwards, according to minister for archeology and archives Ramachandran Kadannappalli.  

The move was made following the reported damages the cave suffered during the recent incessant rain and widespread landslides that hit the region. The entry of visitors to the caves was banned after a piece of rock had fallen on the entrance of the first cave.     

Only 1920 visitors in small teams of maximum thirty members would be allowed to the cave on a day. The entrance through the first cave would be avoided till the report on the incident from the expert team of archeology department is submitted.

Meanwhile environmentalists alleged that the fallen rock hints at the damages to the pre-historic site due to unchecked quarrying and constructions on the premises.  

“We have been demanding a blanket ban on quarrying and constructions in the region for the last many years. But in one way or other permits were granted to new projects violating norms at the premises of the caves,” said N Badusha, leader of Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithy.

Now in the custody of Archeological Survey of India (ASI), the origin of the Edakkal engravings dates back to 6000 BC, according to historians.

It was in 1894 that Fred Fawcett, then Police Superintend-ent of Malabar, discovered the Neolithic habitat of cavemen in the wilderness of the district, during one of his hunting expeditions. A detailed study published by him in ‘Indian Antiquary’, is the only detailed study available on the pictorial engravings till date.