Horn sound made me see to left when I just walked out of a noodle food stall in Tashiling. Yes, that shrill sound came from Mr. Tirtha’s taxi which I never knew since when it had been parked under a tree right out of Tashiling area.
“I think we don’t need to go to Devi’s Fall because its water discharge is low now. So you can see the beauty of Devi’s Fall from a cave”, said Mr. Tirtha while turning steering wheel to left and entered Shital Path Street. I just agreed with that information.
Devi’s Fall often had been nicknamed as David’s Fall since decades ago when a Swiss drowned in current at this waterfall.
“OK …. We are arriving“, joked Mr. Tirtha while snapping her fingers when he had just turned right following Siddhartha Rajmag’s Street flow.
I started to enter the gate of Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave, which at its top stood the dashing Lord Shiva holding his trident in cross-legged position. Through it, then walking in tarpaulin-covered entrance route with a row of souvenir stalls on either side. Then I was greeted by the presence of Lord Vishnu statue which sleeping next to the main building.
It was time to head to a concrete balcony to bought a ticket for 100 Rupee. Before descending the stairs to cave mouth, for a moment I paid attention to details of staircase walls which were regularly spaced displaying Gods carvings which might implicitly feature a certain stories.
Temperature difference had begun to be felt on first foothold at cave mouth. Now I was ready to explore the longest cave in Nepal.
“Cow Shed“, I was stunned to see a cow shed with blue iron fence. I asked a local person who was talking in front of it. He briefly said that this cow protected Lord Shiva. I nodded as if I understood.
Going down the stairs through right side of cage I felt my breath getting heavier. The damp dark cramped space made it so. Then I saw a bright light again at a temple which dedicated to glorifying Lord Shiva.
It was said that this cave was found in 16th century with cave mouth closed by grass. Local people named this cave as Bhalu Dulo. When found, there were already carvings of several Hindu Gods such as Mahadev, Parvati, Nageshwor and Saraswati.
Now stairs to cave bottom were getting sharper and slippery. Water continued to drip from stalactites which were spread evenly on cave roof. The lack of lighting made my downward journey very slow.
Finally, the appearance of cave bottom was amazing. A very large room was in basement. Then on a side appeared a natural gap which was the only hole to enjoy the beauty of Devi’s Fall.
Check out the situation of Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p0Yjhocidg
God’s extraordinary work of nature….