Bhimbetka Rock Painting
The Bhimbetka rock shelters are home to the oldest rock paintings in the Indian subcontinent. Out of the 750 rock shelters, 400 include unique rock paintings depicting the scene of the Medieval Era. These paintings’ subjects and motifs, such as hunting, dance, animals, geometric forms, and so on, give insights into human cultural progress. Vegetable colours were used to make the rock paintings. The paintings exhibit extraordinary liveliness and storytelling talent of different prehistoric periods.
- The late Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age) features enormous linear depictions of rhinoceroses and bears.
- Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) paintings are more petite and depict human activities in addition to animals.
- Paintings from the Chalcolithic Period (early Bronze Age) depict early people’s ideas on agriculture.
- Finally, historical ornamental paintings include religious elements such as tree gods and miraculous sky chariots. Manganese, woody coal, and hematite were used in the final period, designated as early medieval.
The rock paintings are divided into two groups: one portrays hunters and food gatherers, and another depicts riding on horses and elephants with metal weapons. The first series of paintings are from prehistoric periods, while the second is from historical times.
Interesting Facts of Bhimbetka Cave
The Bhimbetka Cave displays India’s oldest signs of human life and the Stone Age dating back to the Acheulian periods. The cave is 45 km away from the Raisen district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Being a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bhimbetka includes seven hills and over 750 caves spread across a 10-km area. The Bhimbetka caves are famous for ancient rock paintings and Precambrian fossils. Dr. V. S. Wakankar, a well-known archaeologist, found these caves in 1958. The Bhimbetka rock shelters’ existence and importance was appropriately discovered in the 1970s and documented.