Bhimbetka

Surrounded by the northern fringe of the Vindhyan ranges, Bhimbetka lies 46 km South of Bhopal. In this rocky terrain of dense forest and craggy cliffs, over 600 rock shelters belonging to the Neolithic age were recently discovered.

Surrounded by the northern fringe of the Vindhyan ranges, Bhimbetkalies 46 km South of Bhopal. In this rocky terrain of dense forest andcraggy cliffs, over 600 rock shelters belonging to the Neolithic agewere recently discovered. Here, in vivid panoramic detail, paintings inover 500 caves depict the life of the pre-historic cave-dwellers makingthe Bhimbetka group an archaeological treasure, an invaluable chroniclein the history of man.

Did you know ?
Executed mainly in red and white with the occasional use of green andyellow, with themes taken from everyday events of eons ago, the scenesusually depict hunting, dancing, music, horse and elephant riders,animals fighting, honey collection, decoration of bodies, disguises,masking and household scenes.

Animals such as bisons, tigers, lions, wild boar, elephants, antelopes,dogs, lizards, crocodiles, etc. have been depicted in some caves.Popular religious and ritual symbols also occur frequently.

Believe it or not
The colours used by the cave dwellers were prepared combiningmanganese, hematite, soft red stone and wooden coal. Sometimes the fatof animals and extracts of leaves were also used in the mixture. Thecolours have remained intact for many centuries due to the chemicalreaction resulting from the oxide present on the surface of the rocks.


Must see
The superimposition of paintings shows that the same canvas was used bydifferent people at different times. The drawings and paintings can beclassified under seven different periods:

Period I - (Upper Paleolithic)
These are linear representations, in green and dark red, of huge figures of animals such as bisons, tigers and rhinoceros.

Period II - (Mesolithic)
Comparatively small in size, the stylized figures show lineardecoration of the body. In addition to animals, there are human figuresand hunting scenes, giving a clear picture of the weapons they used -barbed spears, pointed sticks, bow and arrows. The depiction ofcommunal dances, birds, musical instruments, mother and child, pregnantwomen, men carrying dead animals, drinking and burials appear inrhythmic movement.

Period III - (Chaleolithic)
Similar to the paintings of Chaleolithic pottery, these drawings revealthat during the period, the cave dwellers of this area had come incontact with the agricultural communities of the Malwa plains andstarted an exchange of their requirements with each other.

Period IV & V - (Early History)
The figures of this group have a schematic and decorative style, andare painted mainly in red, white and yellow. The association is ofriders, depiction of religious symbols, tunic-like dresses and theexistence of scripts of different periods. The religious beliefs arerepresented by figures of yakshas, tree gods and magical sky chariots.

Period VI & VII - (Medieval)
These paintings are geometric, linear and more schematic, but show degeneration and crudeness in their artistic style.

HT Image