ITINERANTUR: HARRY'S TRAVEL BLOG: THE LIMESTONE CAVES OF TAPKESHWARI

A 500 year old temple with not one but three perennial springs, surrounded on 3 sides by low hills and the hills dotted by some fantastically patterned limestone caves and all this not even properly sign posted, let alone figuring in some tourist glossy. This is Tapkeshwari located very close to the City of Bhuj in Kutch.

Panoramic View of the area around

Quietly tucked away in the wilderness just behind the Bhuj Cantonment is the Tapkeshwari Temple. The temple is situated at the end of Tapkeshwari Road, which originates at the south side of Bhuj Town. To the West of the road is the small village of Haripar, and to the East is a compound of a BSF Unit.

The Temple Complex

Unfortunately like a lot places in India, apart from the old idol, nothing much remains of the original shrine which has been replaced by an abomination of concrete and glazed tile structure. Luckily old structures with a lot of character still hug the hill sides.

The temple complex is located in the centre of a horse shoe shaped hill. An old lady who is also the pujarin of the temple told me that the shrine is over 500 years old. The name of the temple comes from the Gujarati word "tapakvu," which means "to drip".

The main Aquifer below the Temple

Legend states that this used to be the site of a year-round spring which used to cause water to "drip" down the cliff walls (though we could not find any water as such dripping down from the hill side). As per the old lady, the Goddess dug her mighty trident into the ground which resulted in the three perennial springs located in the complex. The largest aquifer is located right below the temple, the smallest at the entrance and the third closer to the hill side to the North.

Old Structures along the Hill side

Apart from the temple, the fantastic limestone caves overlooking the complex are worth a visit. They are accessible by stairs on the north side of the temple and then a scramble up a rough trail to the top of the overlying ridge. The caves are breathtaking and seem to have been eroded millions of years ago by water (probably when the whole region was sea bed). Unfortunately, they have been vandalized at a number of places by louts scribbling their names and other gibberish at a number of places. Still they are fantastically patterned and offer a beautiful view of Bhuj City from the top.

A day’s visit is definitely worth it considering that the place is located very close to town, has some historical value and above all one can visit some beautiful limestone caves and have a great view. Just a word of caution is to look out for honeycombs when visiting the caves- there are quite a few of them in the higher reaches.