A cave usually means darkness and wet rock, but one cave in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh has deep green walls. Kolkata's Ei Samay has published a photo story on this "Green Cave" in Kanger Valley National Park in Bastar.
The cave lies in compartment 85 of the park, near the well-known Kotumsar cave, about 35 kilometres from the town of Jagdalpur. The green is not paint but layers of tiny microbes. Sunlight reaches inside for only about an hour a day, and in those particular conditions they grow on the limestone, covering the grey rock like green velvet.
Past large boulders and the two green walls at the entrance, the cave opens into a large chamber, with limestone stalactites hanging from the ceiling and flowstone formed by trickling water. Figures from 2024 put the cave at about 94 metres long and 17 metres deep, and research has found a creature there not seen in any other cave in the park.
Researchers say the cave was already on record and was formally brought to public attention in January 2026, so it is better described as rediscovered than discovered. Early in 2026 the state's forest minister, Kedar Kashyap, announced that the cave would be developed for tourists.
Environmentalists have objected. According to reports from March, a petition has been filed in court: water enters the cave in the monsoon and it is a safe den for wild bears, so opening it to tourism at the cost of the environment is strongly opposed. The bigger question now, the report concludes, is keeping nature's balance rather than enjoying the view.
Photo story by Rahit Paramanik for Ei Samay; times are given in Bangladesh time.
Photo: Kotumsar caves, Kanger Valley, Theasg sap / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Ei Samay
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