Hey guys, today we are going to see some of the oldest cave temples in South India, these
are called Mamandur caves, and they are in the middle of nowhere.
Archeologists estimate they were built around 600 A.D, which means they are at least 1,400
years old.
These are the very first artificial caves built by ancient builders in this region and
the beauty of these structures is that nothing was added in the construction process.
Normally, construction means adding materials to build a structure, but here, the construction
was a process of removing materials to create these structures.
Archeologists refer to them as temples, as a place of worship, but these were in fact
built as a place for meditation.
Spiritual leaders have mentioned that these are the oldest "energy sites" in all of South
India.
There are a total of 4 caves, and they are in terrible condition.
What you see on the ground is piles of bat droppings, the poop accumulated here is so
bad that breathing this in will make you sick as a dog and can cause diseases like histoplasmosis,
which can kill you.
So, if you ever plan on visiting this place, don't be like me and take necessary precautions.
According to archeologists these are incomplete caves, but there are a total of 4 caves and
all of them are said to be unfinished.
I mean think about this, people could have started building one cave temple and could
have left it unfinished.
But instead, archeologists say they people began working on the first cave and left it
unfinished, and then moved on to the next cave, which is right next to it.
And while the second cave was half done, they again gave up the project and moved to the
3rd cave and so on.
This is a ridiculous theory put forth by archeologists.
The reality is this, what you are looking at are finished structures.
Out of the 4 caves, the first one was built as a temple.
This was an ancient Shiva temple with a lingam in the center.
You can see paintings on the walls, which means that this is a finished structure.
Painting process only begins after completion of a structure, not in unfinished stages and
is usually the last stage.
If you look at other caves, they also have paintings which indicate they were also complete.
The main reason archeologists claim these are unfinished caves is because there are
no idols inside these chambers.
But these were created as a place for meditation, ancient texts describe monks meditating in
small, isolated chambers, and these are the oldest examples in the region.
If you look at the doorway of these chambers, you can see slots both at the bottom and at
the top.
These are for doors, to lock yourself in, in complete isolation for long hours of meditation.
This is why this ancient site was referred to as the spiritual center of South India.
In addition to isolated meditation, group meditation and chanting was also taught in
these caves.
This is why some of them have no private chambers and look like a pillared hall.
And the series of slots on the floor reveal that a roofed structure existed once upon
a time, there would have been stone slabs or wooden poles placed inside them to support
a roof.
A small group of people would sit together and chant a specific Mantra.
What kind of Mantra did they chant?
The visual representation of that Mantra is this cymatic pattern.
The same pattern is repeated on many of the pillars.
Decoding this pattern will reveal what Mantra was chanted inside the caves.
So, you can see what was once a spiritual center of India is now a place for drinking,
illegal activities and a massive home for bats.
Please share this video to spread awareness and I hope someday the Government can clean
up this mess.
I am Praveen Mohan, thanks a lot for watching, don't forget to subscribe and I will talk
to you soon.
Bye.