Few know of Gudiyam’s prehistoric caves and not many visiting it treat the site with the respect it deserves. Tourists often leave behind a trail of garbage and broken liquor bottles, not to mention graffiti on the walls of the cave.
But for a couple of men who visited the site — 60 kilometres from Chennai and close to Poondi reservoir — it was a life-changing experience.
For over three years, Ramesh Yanthra and cameraman Vasantha Kumar tried to capture the beauty of the caves on film. Their perseverance paid off finally, with their documentary film — Gudiyam Caves: Stone Age Rock Shelters of South India — being selected for screening at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival to be held in May.
A graduate in fine arts from Chennai, Mr. Yanthra, the film’s director, first visited Gudiyam, in 2011, by chance. Incidentally, the Wikipedia page on Gudiyam Caves was created by him.
