Borra Cave.

Borra Cave. 

We visited the Borra Caves when we were on our way for over night stay in Araku Valley.

You have to leave NH 516E and take the state highway to the Borra Caves, which are located

approximately 80 to 90 KMs north of Visakhapatnam, in the Ananthagiri Hill range of the Eastern Ghats, which vary in height from  2500 ft to 3600 ft. A.M.S.L.

The last kilometre or so of the approach road to the caves is lined with restaurants and small shops selling various knick-knacks and handicraft items. After a long drive, people need refreshments and drinks, and so the restaurants in the vicinity of Bora Caves do brisk business. Vehicles have to be parked in the parking lot , which is quite crowded, and finding a parking place can be a problem. A walk of about 250 meters or so is involved to reach the entrance to the caves.

The caves are open to the public from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with a one-hour lunch break from 1 PM to 2 PM . The entry fee for adults is Rs 80 and for children Rs 60. There are two main information boards installed at Bora Caves. One by the Visakhapatnam District Tourism Promotion Council.
On the other information board, there is no information about who installed that board. From the type of data and pictures given on this board, it is my guess that it was installed by the Geological Survey of India.
There is some variation in the information given on these two boards. The variation in information is insignificant, as most of the hard data is more or less the same.  

William King, the British Geologist discoverd the cave in 1807. Borra Caves are locally known as "Borra Guhalu", where 'Borra' means hole, and 'Guhalu' translates to 'cave' in the Telugu language.  

Proper stairs with guardrails are built throughout the cave for the convenience of the tourists.

Well-constructed steps, proper paved paths and colourful lighting. Natural light and the Sun's Rays coming down through the hole in the cave roof all give Borra Caves a dreamlike and ethereal beauty.

Most people in our group were senior citizens, and few had problems walking. The mouth of the cave is about 700 m above AMSL, and the lowest point in the cave is about 600 m AMSL, so one had to go down and climb back again by about 100m (about 300 ft)r . When they saw how deep in the cave they had to descend and climb back again, they just refused to explore the caves. I was very keen to fully explore the cave, but as most of them did not, they agreed to wait for some time and allow me to see the cave. I was given 15 to 20 mts to do the same 😞

The entrance to Borra Cave is a huge gaping hole in the mountainside. From the top, one has a very good view of the cave interior and can see proper stone stairs zigzagging and descending in the dark depth of the cave. Well-constructed steps with guardrails are built throughout the cave for the convenience of the tourists. Due to the huge cave opening, there is sufficient natural light as well as air circulation in the cave. As you descend further and proceed further in the cave, as the natural light through the cave opening diminishes, one sees a big hole in the roof of the cave, which again ensures that natural light is available till that distance. Due to limited time available to me, I did not go further even though I wanted to.

The paths are well maintained and quite clean, neat and Tidy. The recesses and nook and corners are also lit quite brightly.

With proper paved paths and colourful lighting. Natural light and the Sun's Rays coming down through the hole in the cave roof all give Borra Caves a dreamlike and ethereal beauty. One of the best cave complexes in the country.