Land of Kashyapa - Page#13 - Bumzua Cave

Bumzua Cave

The Bumzuva Cave and Temple north of Mattan in Anantnag is on the list of monuments of national importance in Jammu and Kashmir maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The Bumzua cave is carved out of a limestone cliff. Bumzua cave is reached via a narrow pathway from an unremarkable road. There is Zero respect for an ASI property that belongs to the 12th century. I suspect it is more so because it belongs to a "kafir". At the foot of the caves, are two temples that have been converted into Muslim Ziarats (tombs).  There is not one ruin that we went to and did not find an intrusive building of another faith.

Cunningham the historian notes that..."The history of Martand or Mattan is incomplete without any mention of Bumzua, a sleepy hamlet at a distance of one Kilometer and situated at the mouth of the Lidder, more known for the cave temple, dedicated to the Kaldeva that stands at the far end of a natural, but artificially enlarged fissure in the limestone cliff. The entrance to the caverns is 60 ft above the river Lidder and is carved into an architectural doorway. The huge Shiva Linga inside the cave is yet another cave...and is said to have been a Samadhi of some ancient sage.”

The trefoil or the clover-shaped archway under the triangular roof supported by pilastered columns is very striking. The relative isolation in a period of persecution could have been one of the reasons for the artificial cave and temple. The inside of the cave looks very crumbly and on the far end is a modest sanctum that is typical of a Kashmiri Hindu temple. The sanctum is empty. The platform to the left has two "Lingams" which perhaps were relocated from inside the sanctum.  

You cannot miss this place which is on the route from Srinagar to the Martand Sun temple and less than 5 kilometers before the wonder of Lalitaditya Muktapida.