The Marabar Caves - page 5 - The Lower Cave

This page shows images taken at Savandurga during a visit that I made there in 2017. It follows on from the 'The Expedition Departs' page, and precedes the 'Upper Caves' page.

The trip by elephant brings Mrs Moore, Adela Quested, and Dr. Aziz to the 'Lower Cave', marked on the map above as '5'. Here the party takes a rest and refreshments, before exploring the Lower Cave.

The Lower Cave and rest-area, as used in the film, are found in a smallish depression or valley in the rocks, not far from the access road. When used for the film, the valley was clear of vegetation. When I was here previously in 2002 the valley was quite overgrown. In 2017 it was even more overgrown, and unless you had some special interest you would not think of battling through the trees and bushes to get inside it. You will not get a view of the cave entrance from outside, or have any idea that the cave-entrance is even there.

This is the best way in to the valley. Be prepared to fight your way through the branches!

After quite a bit of effort, we reached the center of the Valley, and found some sunken stone walls. Closer inspection revealed that they had at one time been covered with a fine and waterproof plaster. We were looking at the pool used to give the elephant a bath in the film. The pool must surely have been made just for the film.

Some of the walls had fallen down over the years. Much of the bath was now filled in with a mixture of earth, rubble, and vegetation detritus, but there was no mistaking what it once was.

In this film screen-grab we see Adela Quested kneeling down next to the Elephant Bath. It even has some water-lilies floating on the surface! I wonder how far they had to travel here. Every little detail was thought of! Even the water must have been piped in from some distance, or brought by tanker. This view of the valley of the Lower Cave is not possible to see these days, due to the huge amount of vegetation now growing there.

At last, we see the entrance to the Lower Cave, but all is not as it seems. There is no cave at all here, just an entrance-way going back some 6 or 8 feet. As explained on the Marabar Caves 2 page, the entrance to this cave, and the others that we shall meet in the Upper Caves page, were created specially for the film by a team of highly skilled temple stone-carvers.

The next photo shows the view from the Lower Cave in 2017, at a slightly different angle.

Back to the film story, we see the Guide, Adela, Dr. Aziz, and Mrs Moore about to enter the Lower Cave.

They are accompanied by their servants, and a large number of locals.

The crowd purposefully walks towards what is just a shallow entrance cut into the rock, but of course no one watching the film would be aware of this.

The action inside of the cave was all shot in the studio. The cave has a strange echo, that is demonstrated by the guide, and then, with great enthusiasm, by Dr. Aziz. It is all a bit too much for Mrs. Moore, who makes a hurried exit and sits down on a chair under the parasol.

Now, we have a bit of movie magic. Don't forget that the 'Cave' is just a shallow entrance some 6 or 8 feet deep, yet we see some 20 people apparently leaving it! I guess that the shot starts with 10 or so people outside, taking up positions of having just left the 'Cave'. The remaining 10 or so people could then be squeezed into the shallow entrance, and as the shot continues they would exit into the daylight.

Continuing the story: Adela leaves the Lower Cave and goes to see Mrs Moore, who is taking a rest under the parasol. Mrs Moore suggests that as the cave-visiting experience was rather tiring for her, it might be better is she stayed where she was, and that Adela and Dr. Aziz go to see the Upper Caves by themselves, taking just the Guide with them. Dr. Aziz and Adela agree, and so the scene moves away from the Lower Cave Valley, and we see the Guide, Adela, and Dr. Aziz climbing up what appears to be a steep hill. This was filmed just next to the Lower Cave Valley.

After some time, (apparently), the small party feel the need for a rest at some conveniently placed stones.

The Guide sits on one at the back, and Adela and Dr Aziz sit on one in the front. Adela asks a personal question about love and marriage.

Some of those Resting Place Stones were still there in 2017, though a couple seem to have disappeared now. The actual location of them is very close to the Lower Cave Valley, and is marked as '6' on the above map.

I would guess that the stones were placed there by the film crew, and no one thought to remove them again afterwards. We might wonder if they were stones that originally came from the fort, but if you look carefully at the closeup of the center-stone, you will see marks of multiple rock-drill holes, so I would assume that they were cut from a larger piece by the same masons who cut the cave entrances.

As they sit, taking their rest, we are shown a view back to Chandrapore, that Adela and Dr Aziz are apparently looking at. This view was not taken from the resting-place! I have no idea where it was shot from - can anyone help? Maybe its a view of Ramanagaram City, taken from higher up the hill?

Here is the actual view from the Resting Place, with an old woman grazing her sheep.

After their rest, the party continues to climb the hill. This shot was also filmed at Savandurga.

They then reach some stairs between some large boulders, but this shot was not taken at Savandurga. To see the actual location of this and subsequent shots, please visit the next page: 'The Marabar Caves - page 6 - The Upper Caves'.

 

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