MPdiaries Part 8. Bhimbetka

On our way to Bhopal, we stopped by at a very interesting site called Bhimbetka.  Here you find large rock shelters that have paintings that date back to thousands of years depicting the life of the people through different eras.  This has been now declared as UNESCO world heritage site.

At some shelters, it was easy to walk because of the wooden flooring installed there. Here is where I could comfortably walk, without loosing my balance and could scrutinise the paintings done on the inner  flat walls that served as canvas. There were no engraving in this region. The paintings are made from three different techniques. Transparent technique, opaque technique and crayons technique.

There were sign boards at regular distances that gave some information that helped us understand what we were to see.

One board read

You will see 15 rock shelters occupied by the early man and the life depicted in paintings. The habitation deposit emerge the cultural sequence from lower palacolithic to Meslithitic, you will find in the trenches of the shelter 1 and 2 have some cupules made on huge rock on the western end, considered by some scholars as the man’s earliest manifestation of creativity, prohably associated with one lakh years before. An elaborately painted shelter 4 known as zoo rock comprised 252 animals of 16 different species, from here walking towards north one can enjoy the watershed of Betwa river and natural ambience. Noticing many painted rock shelters, you will see the rock shelter no 15. Here an amazing scene of giant mythical animal chasing a human, painted with ochre color, can be seen on the upper surface of the rock shelter. You may here experience natural geological formation, various shaped rocks and other painted rock shelters. And their natural envirnoment including flora and fauna. Watching all these you will walk 1400 meters

Of course, I did not walk all the 15 rock shelters, because the path at some places was quite tricky. But it was interesting to see the drawing done on the walls

What was remarkable about this site was the paintings are done with mineral colors. mainly ochre and white on huge natural rocks of sandstone by people from different era. There are hunting scenes, battle scenes, different animals, birds, hunting tools flora and fauna of that era painted over different generation and still very clearly visible.

Besides, the caves also has a number of cupules depressions on stone, which are the man’s earliest manifestation of creativity, probably associated with lower paleolithic period.

One big rock had caved in and stone sculptures are carved out of imagination about how people must have spent their time..man painting on the rock and woman mixing paint while child waits for attention..

There are over 700 rock shelters in this region...as for me..I visited the site that had 15 rock shelters and I just saw few because of shortage of time. But i enjoyed sitting on smooth black rock admiring the panoramic view of the landscape surrounding the rocks.

--> To be continued……