A mystery stays woven around a heavenly picturesque place… the Calaroos Caves in Kupwara District, Kashmir, India… the common belief is that these caves can take one to Pakistan, even to Russia!

The word ‘Kalaroos’ derives from the word ‘Qila-e-Roos’, which actually means ‘Russian Fort’. The Kalaroos caves are situated midway of the Lashtyal and Madhmadu Villages in Kupwara, as there is a giant stone, named Satbaran, in Lashtyal. The stone has seven doors, which are popularly known as Sath Barr. Locals are of the opinion that the doors symbolise seven distinct routes to Russia and other countries. An old man has said his ancestors had told him that Russians used to come through the tunnel!

In 2018, American explorer Amber Fies had arrived in India, with her husband Eric Fies, mainly to find out the secret route to Russia! The couple carried their researches on three doors of Calaroos with the help of Dustin Kisner, an Ohio-based cave expert, Indian explorer Bhamsi Ramakrishna and an engineer from southern Indian Province of Kerala…

According to Eric, two of the caves might have been connected in the past. He claimed that while one of the two caves is upward trending, the other one trends downwards. However, the two have similar elevations and azimuths. Interestingly, they could not determine a similar elevation for the third cave, as the Indian Army had sealed that particular cave. Commenting on Seven Doors, explorer Eric Fies stated: “No one knows the history behind the structure, who built it, or its age.” He further said that although there were no signs of recent human passages in the third cave, some Himalayan porcupines were living there…

In their Research Paper, the Fies couple has mentioned that Sath Barr is not just a part of the mountain. The locals believe that it is an ancient temple situated 1,900mt or 6,234ft above the sea level, where the Pandavas (the central characters of the longest Hindu epic Mahabharata) used to worship when they were in recluse (or Ajñatabas). Later, natural disasters destroyed the temple, or someone destroyed it.

As far as the first cave is concerned, the explorers said that there is a steep path in the first 50mt, and then there is an open space after a 15mt-long narrow path. There is another open space after a 10mt-long narrow path. One can find a new 5mt-long path from the second open space that will take the person to a new corridor. However, the 15mt-long corridor is a closed area, leading nowhere…

The second cave is the widest one among them. After entering this cave, one would have to descend for about 50mt. After that, it looks like a cul-de-sac… the path is closed. Perhaps, the path has been closed forever, due to landslides.

The third of the seven caves is situated at the highest level. After descending about 40mt, one can reach at 20mt-long space that is closed. The explorers have opined that the first and second caves were linked to one another in the distant past. However, both are closed today. Although no historical evidence has been found in this regard, the couple is convinced of the fact that the cave is rich in mineral resources.

Whatever may be, it is proven that it is not possible for the subversive terrorists to enter into India from neighbouring Pakistan through these caves…

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das