Belum Caves

Belum Caves are located in the district of Kurnool in the State of Andhra Pradesh in India. This is the second largest cave in Indian subcontinent and the longest caves in plains of Indian subcontinent having a length of 3,229 metres.They have stalactite and stalagmite formations and are located at about 110 kilometres from Kurnool. The caves derive their name from "Bilum", a Sanskrit word for caves. In Telugu, the language of the state, it is called Belum Guhalu.

The caves have long passages, fresh water galleries, siphons and spacious chambers. These underground caves have been formed naturally due to constant flow of underground water. At their deepest point, the caves descend to 150 feet from the entrance level and this point is referred to as Pataalaganga.

There is a giant Buddha statue located just outside the caves, and a shivalingam inside.

Archaeological excavations of the site reveals that the Belum Caves were occupied by Buddhist and Jain monks. Several Buddhist relics were also found which are now on display at the museum in Ananthapur.

It was brought to scientific attention in 1884 by a British surveyor Robert Bruce Foote, later in 1982-84, a team of German speleologists headed by H Daniel Gebauer conducted a detailed exploration of the caves.