India’s First Music Concert in a Cave!

There was light, camera, sound and action. But all in a large natural cave in Cherrapunjee, the wettest place on earth. But it was not a film shooting, but a musical concert for conservation of Mother Nature.

There was a message from the cave (“KI Sur Na Pubon”) of nature and performed in the famous Arwah Cave at Sohra (Cherrapunjee). The one-of-its-kind musical extravaganza featured young folk singers from Sohra, performing special songs with the essence of conservation and the environment. Perched on the natural rock formations within the cave, musicians played percussion and string instruments with vocalists belting out songs, both old and new.

The purpose of the event was twofold- to promote tourism besides conservation by adding music value to the tourists’ trip to Meghalaya. Secondly, to nurture the local natural talents under the Grassroots Musical Project of Meghalaya Government.

“It gave us so much purpose to be able to jam and play the songs of the young musicians. We were there to do our part and encourage the upcoming artists who performed soulfully,” says Kit Shangpliang of Summersalt. Kit and his wife also sang the Khasi song in the Rock On sequel. Clean Sohra Campaign leader Alan West Kharkongor said: “The idea of conducting such a unique event is to tell the world how important it is to take responsibility to protect and preserve Mother Nature, whether it is the cave, the streams, the waterfalls and so on. This calls for a celebration of the scenic beauty that the Sohra area is blessed with and folksy music is the best way to convey such a purpose”.

Arwah Cave is known for its limestone structures and stalagmite and stalactite formations which are believed to be millions of years old and are naturally carved. It houses many narrow passages and chambers as well as a stream that flows inside the cave. It is a huge cave surrounded by the thick forest of Law Shynna.

The Arwah Cave is a relatively new discovery and has speedily qualified as one of the “must-see” attractions in the Cherrapunji, the wettest place on earth. Sohra is blessed with natural assets like Waterfalls, Living Root Bridges, Cave systems, and general beautiful vistas that are ecologically important and sensitive and need to be looked after by one and all.

Meghalaya has the longest caves in the country, some of them formed 1700 million years ago. There are many record discoveries of a variety of spices from these caves from time to time. But unregulated mining is causing immense harm to the caves, some of them still unexplored and even perished without anybody noticing.

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle