Krem Puri – Longest amongst World’s Sandstone Caves

Sansar LochanPhysical GeographyLeave a Comment

In 2016 the scientists conducted a 25-day arduous expedition in Meghalaya. At the end of it, they came to know of the existence of a cave system hidden under the hills in Meghalaya, called Krem Puri hidden under the hills in Meghalaya, India. This expedition was executed by MAA (Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association) which has been in this business since 1994.

MAA

MAA’s expedition team comprised of scientists and cavers from India and such European countries as the UK, Ireland, Austria, Romania, Switzerland, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands.

Krem Puri

krem_puri_caveKrem Puri is a sandstone cave lying near Laitsohum village in Mawsynram area in the East Khasi Hills district. This cave was recently in news since it has now been measured up and found to be 24/5 km in length. This length elevates this cave to the topmost position amongst world’s sandstone caves. Actually this underground cave is more than 6 km longer than the erstwhile record-holder, namely, Cueva Del Saman in Edo Zulia, Venezuela which is a quartzite sandstone cavern of 18.2 km length. Of all categories of cave n India, Krem Puri is only second in length after the 31 km cave named Krem Liat Prah – Umim- Labit which is also located in the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. The Krem Puri cave system is full of dinosaur fossils, especially those of the Mosasaurus reptiles that are believed to exist 66-76 million years ago.

As a matter of fact, Meghalaya abounds in caves. The districts where caves are found are Cherrapunjee, Shella, Pynursla, Nongjri, Mawsynram and Langrem. So far we know of 1650 caves there. Exploration or partial exploration has been done in the case of nearly 1000 caves only. The total length of Meghalaya caves, so far surveyed, stands at 491 km. This statistics would grow further if all the remaining caves are explored. “Krem” is a word of the Khasi language, that means “a cave”.

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