The Amazing and Mysterious Davis Falls

Where does the water go?… was one obvious question people raised when they get the first glimpse of the fall. Commonly known as “Patale Chhango” or underworld waterfall, is located in Pokhara, the district headquarter of the Kaski district in Nepal.

It earns its name as underworld waterfall for it forms an underground tunnel after the water falls from the height, which is about 100 feet below the ground. The other name Davis falls is after a Swiss woman who fell and drowned in the depth of the fall in 31st July 1961. (Source: Wikipedia)

Davis falls is among the amazing creations of nature. The water flowing through a narrow stream, enters a series of rocky loopholes and then falls downwards into the dark and misty heart of the fall. From its outlook, it presents that the water completely disappears in the trough and seem to travel completely underground.

The loud zoom of water echoing in the tunnels makes its impression further dreadful. We could see a few tourists seem to extend downwards from the railing and bend as far as they can into the darkness of the cavity, so as to know the secret of the magical fall.

When we reached the fall, another remarkable phenomenon had materialized in from the deep. The water current from the river when drizzled vigorously in the underground narrow tunnel, the air current pushed the splashed water droplets upwards, which almost showered on the outside with cool breeze and foggy appearance. It nearly gave the illusion of stationing with the clouds. Being close to the breeze was one heavenly relief in the boiling month of July, which happened to be the time of  our visit.

But the question was always there, where does the water actually go? The answer to the question came to us as a thrilling surprise when a nearby cave was visited. The “Gupteshwor Mahadev” cave is a relatively huge underground cave which extends from the street across the Davis falls. The cave has muddy appearance but is rocky containing huge boulders of sedimentary rocks. The air inside the cave felt moist and warm. Water droplets hung from the ceiling of the cave which was tunneled at some places whereas high above at others. There was a mild humming sound in the air, which seem to be traveling from deep end. The cave had earned its name for having a huge stalagmite, worshiped by the Hindus as the abstract representation of holy deity “Lord Shiva”. It is symbolized as the phallus of lord Shiva, and in turn signifies the generative power of the nature.

While we approached to the rear end of the underground cave, the loud echo of waterfall surged. After climbing down the few stairs, there it was, the mystery revealed. To our surprise, the Davis falls had actually fallen into narrow canyon and had formed a small rivulet which flowed towards the cave. A little light had entered into the cave from the surface of waterfall, which gave the walls of the trench dark green tinge of the weeds and the water, opaque silvery appearance. With great astonishment, we looked up at the darkened corner of the narrow canyon that had actually created the fall. For sure, about ten minutes ago we were staring down from the top of the fall and now, the vice versa. Still, the exact pit of the fall was not visible in the winding and darkened chamber, which could of course been have a more delightful view. Davis falls and its mystery in the underground cave was one of the most alluring moment we had in Pokhara.