New discovery reveals that Meghalaya is home to world’s longest cave

Travellers have yet another reason to visit the amazing state of Meghalaya as the world’s longest sandstone cave, measuring 24,583 m in length, has been discovered here.
Named Krem Puri, it’s not the first time that this cave has come into notice. Although it was first discovered in 2016, the cave got its identity of being the longest one only after its actual length was measured and made official by the Meghalaya Adventurers’ Association (MAA) in an expedition that lasted from February 5 to March 1 this year.

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Although Meghalaya is already a destination which is famous for its huge network of caves, Krem Puri is an underground cavern, which is as much as 6,000 m longer than the Cueva Del Saman in Edo Zulia, Venezuela, which used to be the longest sandstone cave in the world earlier. Its length is 18,200 m.

“This sandstone cave has also become India’s second longest cave in the general category after the limestone Krem Liat Prah-Umim-Labit system measuring a little over 31 km in Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya,” said Kharpran, a recipient of the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award in 2002.


Located near the village of Laitsohum in the Mawsynram area of East Khasi Hills district, the Krem Puri sandstone cave has more interesting things to do it than just being the longest. It has even attracted paleontologists for being home to fossils of dinosaurs, especially the Mosasaurus, which used to be a giant reptile about 66 to 76 million years ago.

The expedition team which discovered this sandstone cave had cavers from different parts of the world, such as the United Kingdom, Romania, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland, along with members of MAA and four Italian scientists from La Venta.

The discovery of Krem Puri could act as a beginning to many other cave related findings in Meghalaya in the future. This is more so because the state is home to just 491 km of surveyed caves according to official data, while many more are waiting to be discovered. Figures reveal that there are as many as 1,650 cave locations across the state, out of which more than 1,000 are explored or just partially explored.