Katleh Khor Cave – Snug Vicissitudes

Katleh Khor has varied meanings based on the different investigations that were carried out such as Sun Hill, The Village without Sun, and many others that the most suitable acquired meaning was a Turkish application where Katleh relates to the vicissitudes and the ruggedness inside the cave and Khor relates to the coziness and ease that in general means `the snug and cozy vicissitudes’.
Reasons to explore this part of Iran: It has an appropriate access route, leisure facilities and spectacular attractions of this region, namely the characteristics that can assuredly create the happy moments especially for the New Year visitors.
The Katleh Khor cave is nestled in the heart of calcareous mountains in the south of the province at a five kilometers distance from the Garmab section which is in the suburban environs of the Khodabandeh County. The distance of this cave from the center of the county is 85 kilometers. Garmab is having a common frontier with the Hamedan province in the east and with the Kurdistan province in the west. This region is popular as the Afshar section or Geshlaghaat or winter quarters and its inhabitants are structured from the tribe popularly known as the Afshari Shahsavans. This cave with an approximate length of 10 kilometers was identified and discovered in the spring of 1331 solar calendar or 1951 AD via the mountaineering board and with the cooperation of the late Seyed Asadullah Jamal.
As per the scientific theories and the geological maps, the Katleh Khor cave was formed in the heart of the Saghizlou Mountain in the Oligo-Miocene limestone related to the third period of the archaeology and it can have the archaism of around 30 million years.
The genesis year of this cave for the first time is not clear via a human being but the people of this region travel in this cave since its genesis. According to the sayings of the senior people of this region, it indicates that their fathers also were travelling in this cave and have been narrating different stories about this cave. The entrance of the Katleh Khor cave resembles a crevice at its beginning besides it culminates in the shape of a triangular arch with a diameter of 70 centimeters, this was and still is the only access route to the inside of the cave.
From the depth of 150 meters to the depth of 700 meters to a large extent the openings have been obtained in the cave and numerous branches have been formed.
The dwellings that have remained immune from the downfall, the stalactites and stalagmites are displayed. These stalactites and stalagmites are located at a distance of 30 to 40 meters from the floor and the ceiling of the cave that with the hearing of a rhythmic sound of water drops, pleasant music and wonderful sceneries, has attracted the eye and the ear of a tourist towards it. After passing from this section, a wide and flat region appears which is similar to the shabestan or shabistan (an underground space) of the mosques. In this section, in its east side, a water pool with 20 x35 dimensions is nestled.
For having an access to this route one has to pass from the oasis of the Karasf and Zarrin River and with surmount of the Garmab, in the northern part of this region an explorer can reach the entrance of this cave.
The opening of this cave is located at an altitude of 11 meters from the level of route where the east is on it, and in the diagonal frontage condition it has an altitude equivalent to 1.40 meters. The initiation of the cave up to its 150 meters depth is similar to the normal series of the markets, with a difference that its elements and organs are a little smaller than the market. The floor of this section has been filled with the thick layer of soil and ash.
In the present scenario, this cave in its three floors is in dry form and from its fourth floor onwards there are even routes that are in the form of water bodies and the archaeologists have given a probability that the formation of the other four floors are up to the table of the underground water that in the year 2003 AD around the 30 kilometers from the numerous routes of this cave was mapped by the German and Swiss archaeologists and from the year 72 till date approximately 5.2 kilometers of it has been visited as a ready travelling spot.
The phenomenon inside the cave such as corridors and passages and the presence of voluminous columns and existences of stalactites (that which drips) and stalagmites (dripping) in different colors and some empty calcites and vernal that are accounted as the rarest calcites, has provided a unique manifestation to this cave.
The creation of different calcites in various forms like a sleeping lion, lion paw, elephant leg, bride dress, candle tin, the hound, Satan hand, burnt palm, virgin Mary, two wizards, the wedding tablecloth and bride and bridegroom and according to the aforementioned archaeologists due to failure of the emergence of this cave’s end, the presence of other important routes of this cave was authenticated.
The recreational collection of the Katleh Khor cave has 12 single bed and double bed suites that with the facilities such as bathroom, Iranian and foreign sanitary services, the cooking vessels, heaters, and many others has availed a suitable environment for the night accommodation of the tourists. The suitable perspectives of its suites are: being adjacent to the cave side, access to the mountain for mountaineering and using the dam environment of the Katleh Khor cave which is one of the many benefits of these suites.