Saddan (Farm) Cave, Mawlamyine, Myanmar

After surveying the cave temple known as Farm Cave, we walked over to Saddan Cave.

This was also called Farm Cave in colonial times. The colonial records describe fauna collections, which were done in Saddan Cave in the 19th c. These caves are located in Kayon Hill just outside Mawlamyine in Myanmar. Mawlamyine (Moulmien) is the capital of the Mon state. We visited in 2009.

We walked through an avenue of palms to Saddan Cave.

There’s a wooden house for the monks at the base of the steps. When we visited workmen were making 2 elephants from Rhino brand cement, and they seem to be building a new road.

2 young monks took us through the Saddan cave

The cave is surprisingly big. There are Buddhas in the entrance passage,

then the huge main chamber, and we climbed up to a very small upper entrance.

At the small entrance the monklets and our guide Min went out and left us, so we went back in and began surveying.

There is some great stal in the cave.

Saw a root going through the stal wall.

The cave is not long, but it is wide and high, maybe 60m x 60m x 60m. Pity we didn’t have a disto to measure it accurately.

In the main entrance chamber a steep slope leads to an upper entrance, which we climbed so guessed the chamber height to be around 60m. Outside was a large Cycas, and I later saw many more on the cliff, all quite brown now in the dry season. There are also macaques on the hill.

The cave has some huge boulders, and 1 Buddha inside. Saw lots of crickets, 2 whip spiders, millipedes and small spiders, and 1 Thereupoda. Lots of fruit bats, but little guano, and not much invertebrate life considering the fauna reports.

guano on rocks

I saw graffiti from 1909 and 1922, but Helmut saw some from 1880s.

On the way out, I had time to take more photos

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© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Myanmar - Saddan Cave, Hpa An, Kayin state

I joined a small caving expedition to Myanmar in Jan 2009. This led to the development of Caves of Myanmar website.

We were caving in the southern part of Myanmar. We started in Kayin state, staying in Hpa An town. End of Jan is dry season. Every day there was quite a bad haze, so this spoilt a lot of photos.

This album shows Saddan Cave which is southeast of Hpa An. Saddan is a well known temple cave.

The hill and the entrance to Saddan Cave can be seen below

Saddan is the name of an elephant. Elephants are important to Buddhists and there are stone elephants at the bottom of the steps leading up to the cave.

As in all Buddhist temples in Myanmar, you have to remove your shoes at the start of the temple compound, unlike places like Thailand where you just go barefoot in the inner temple. The Burmese don't seem to worry about dirty feet when stepping onto the praying areas.

The entrance chamber - and cave snakes

and a disproportionate Buddha watches us survey

reclining Buddha

Stalagmite
There are lots of Buddhas along the wall and tablets decorating the walls

Steps lead up from the entrance chamber to the main cave passage. There is quite a lot of cave fauna, such as whip spiders and huntsmen spiders

There is also graffiti

At the end of the main passage is a large stal which was illuminated by a sunbeam

There is a small altar with a white Buddha

and a Buddha or monk with tilted head

The view from the back entrance is nice

From the back entrance of Saddan Cave we walked over to Haisin Cave. There is a lake close to Saddan,

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© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission